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Report 


The  Mayor's  | 
Market  Commissioni 


New  YorR  City 


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SEYMOUR  DURST 


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Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


REPORT 


OF 


THE  MAYOR'S  MARKET 
COMMISSION 


OP 


NEW  YORK  CITY 


Hon.  Cyrus  C.  Miller,  Chairman 
Hon.  John  Purroy  Mitchel 
Hon.  George  McAneny 


DECEMBER,  1913 


889—14—2000 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 
REPORT  OF  THE  MAYOR'S  MARKET  COMMISSION  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY 

PAGE 

I.    Letter  of  Transmittal   5 

II.    Objects  and  Work  of  the  Commission   9 

III.  Summary  of  Market  Conditions  in  New  York  City   10 

IV.  Present  Methods  of  Marketing  Farm  Products   11 

V.    Prices    14 

VI.    Present  Facilities  for  Distribution  Within  the  City   16 

Vn.    Present  Public  Markets   19 

VIII.    Proposed  Market  System  for  the  City   22 

IX.  Recommendations    26 

APPENDIX 

I.    Existing  Steamship  and  Railroad  Terminals  in  the  City  of  New  York 

W.  G.  Rainsford  29 

II.    Financial  Statement  of  the  Public  Markets  of  the  City  of  New  York 

Sidney  A.  Goodacre  42 

III.  Proposed  Bronx  Market — Description  and  Plans   49 

IV.  Brief  and  Plans  for  a  New  West  Washington  and  Gansevoort  Market   57 

V.    Public  Markets  in  American  Cities  J.  F.  Carter  67 

VI.    Foreign  Markets   Mrs.  Elmer  Black  85 

VII.    Provisioning  Metropolitan  Populations  with  Fresh  Foodstuffs,  Including  a 
History  of  the  Market  System  of  Berlin,  by  Edgar  Lange,  translated 

by  J.  M.  Friedland   95 

VIII.    Transportation  and  Its  Relation  to  Retail  Prices  Frank  Andrews  119 

IX.    Waterways  and  Cost  of  Living  S.  A.  Thompson  125 

X.  Trolley  Freight  Qyde  L.  King  129 

XI.    Refrigeration  at  the  Market  Center  M.  E.  Pennington  135 

XII.    The  Grading,  Packing  and  Marketing  of  Farm  Produce... L.  J.  Lippmann  139 

XIII.  A  Study  of  Markets  and  the  Marketing  of  Foodstuffs  G.  L.  Bennett  147 

XIV.  Abstracts  of  Testimony  Taken  by  the  Commission   211 

XV.    Bibliography   C.  C.  Williamson  265 

XVI.   Proposed  Bill  Creating  Department  of  Markets   295 


I.   LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 

December  30,  1913. 

Hon.  Ardolph  R.  Kline, 

Mayor  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

Sir:  The  Market  Commission  appointed  by  Mayor  Gaynor  on  May  14,  1912,  to 
investigate  and  report  on  the  conditions  under  which  foodstuffs  are  marketed  at 
present  in  the  Boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx,  and  to  make  recommendations 
for  the  bettering  of  those  conditions,  submits  the  acompanying  report.  The  inquiry 
was  extended  to  the  Boroughs  of  Brooklyn,  Queens,  and  Richmond,  by  invitation  of 
the  authorities  of  those  Boroughs. 

After  an  extended  investigation  of  market  conditions  in  the  City  of  New  York 
through  the  conduct  of  public  hearings,  at  which  representatives  of  many  classes  of 
marketmen,  railroad  men  and  other  experts  have  given  testimony,  and  the  study 
of  monographs  and  reports  from  many  sections  of  this  country  and  many  foreign 
cities,  your  Commission  believes  that  the  recommendations  contained  in  its  report 
suggest  the  means  of  effecting  a  substantial  reduction  to  the  consumers  of  this  city 
in  the  cost  of  their  food.  How  pressing  the  need  for  this  is  it  is  hardly  necessary 
to  state. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

Cyrus  C.  Miller, 
President  of  the  Borough  of  The  Bronx,  Chairman. 

George  McAneny, 
President  of  the  Borough  of  Manhattan. 


II.   OBJECTS  AND  WORK  OF  THE  COMMISSION 


What  subsequently  expanded  into  the  work  of  the  Market  Commission  had  its^ 
origin  in  a  conference  held  at  Borough  Hall,  The  Bronx,  on  November  9,  1910,  be- 
tween the  Borough  President  and  a  committee  of  the  Manhattan  and  Bronx  Retail 
Grocers'  Association  to  discuss  the  question  of  establishing  a  public  produce  market  in 
the  Borough  of  The  Bronx.  A  committee  of  citizens  was  appointed  to  select  a  site  for 
such  a  market.  At  first  the  plan  was  to  confine  the  movement  to  the  Borough  of  The 
Bronx,  where  the  poor  marketing  facilities  were  a  burden  on  both  dealers  and 
consumers. 

On  May  14,  1912,  Mayor  Gaynor  appointed  this  Commission  to  examine  into  the 
market  conditions  of  The  Bronx  and  Manhattan  and  to  report  such  remedies  as 
might  be  found  advisable  for  present  marketing  conditions.  He  also  appointed 
an  Advisory  Committee  to  cooperate  with  the  Commission  toward  the  same  ends.. 
The  Commission  consists  of — 

Hon.  Cyrus  C.  Miller,  President  of  the  Borough  of  The  Bronx,  Chairman. 
Hon.  George  McAneny,  President  of  the  Borough  of  Manhattan. 
Hon.  John  Purroy  Mitch  el,  Ex- President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen. 
Elizabeth  I.  Toms,  Secretary. 
The  Advisory  Committee  consists  of — 

John  Aspegren,  Vice-President,  New  York  Produce  Exchange. 
Mrs.  Elmer  Black. 

Edward  B.  Boynton,  Bronx  Industrial  Bureau. 
Franklin  Brooks,  Attorney-at-Law. 

John  Buckle,  President,  Gansevoort  Market  Business  Men's  Association. 

Henry  Dunkak,  Ex-President,  New  York  Mercantile  Exchange. 

Emil  Fleischl,  Produce  Commission  Merchant. 

Charles  Haslop,  member  New  York  Retail  Grocers'  Association. 

Mrs.  Julian  Heath,  President,  National  Housewives'  League. 

Carl  A.  Koelsch,  President,  Washington  Market  Merchants'  Association. 

Nelson  P.  Lewis,  Chief  Engineer,  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment. 

Richard  W.  Lawrence,  North  Side  Board  of  Trade. 

L.  J.  Lippmann,  Secretary,  New  York  Branch  National  League  of  Commission! 

Merchants. 
Mrs.  George  V.  Mullan. 
Mrs.  Lewis  Nixon. 

William  Church  Osborn,  Chairman,  Committee  on  Markets,  Prices,  and  Costs, 

New  York  State  Food  Investigating  Commission. 
George  S.  Otis,  West  Washington  Market  Association. 

William  R.  Patterson,  Assistant  Commissioner  of  Public  Works,  Borough  of 
Manhattan. 

Joseph  E.  Smith,  Produce  Commission  Merchant. 

R.  A.  C.  Smith,  Commissioner  of  Docks  and  Ferries. 

Mrs.  Flora  Spiegelberg,  member  Housewives'  League. 

Since  the  appointment  of  the  Commission  and  the  Advisory  Committee  the  work 
of  examining  into  market  conditions  has  gone  on  in  various  ways.    The  Gansevoort 


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Market  Business  Men's  Association,  the  West  Washington  Market  Association,  the 
Chelsea  Association  of  Merchants  and  Manufacturers,  and  the  Greenwich  Village 
Public  Service  Committee  asked  us  especially  to  examine  into  conditions  in  and 
around  Gansevoort  and  West  Washington  Markets,  looking  toward  the  construction  of 
a  new  market  in  that  vicinity  when  the  present  West  Washington  Market  should  be 
taken  for  dock  purposes.  They  submitted  to  the  Commission  a  brief  and  plan  for 
a  new  market  building  in  the  vicinity,  which  is  printed  in  the  Appendix  to  this 
report.  The  Greenpoint  Taxpayers'  and  Citizens'  Association  requested  us  to  ex- 
amine market  conditions  in  the  Greenpoint  section  to  determine  the  advisability  of 
locating  a  public  market  there  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  proposed  Barge  Terminal 
at  Greenpoint.  The  authorities  of  the  Boroughs  of  Brooklyn,  Queens,  and  Richmond 
requested  us  to  examine  conditions  there  and  to  make  recommendations  to  remedy 
conditions. 

The  Commission  and  Advisory  Committee  have  held  weekly  hearings  and  have 
taken  the  testimony  of  wholesale  and  retail  dealers,  railroad  men  and  others  acquainted 
with  the  business  of  the  markets.  Synopses  of  the  testimony  taken  will  be  found 
in  the  Appendix.  The  Commission  has  made  few  statistical  studies,  as  the  very  ex- 
cellent estimates  and  statistics  compiled  by  the  Committee  on  Markets,  Prices  and 
Costs  of  the  State  Food  Investigating  Commission  and  others  were  available,  and 
statistics  are  not  necessary  at  this  time  to  show  either  that  prices  are  high  or  that  the 
facilities  for  distribution  in  this  city  are  inadequate. 

In  the  meantime,  by  means  of  speeches,  newspaper  and  magazine  articles,  and  the 
distribution  of  pamphlets,  reprints  and  reports,  the  work  of  educating  the  public  on 
the  market  question  has  gone  forward  steadily.  Much  valuable  aid  has  been  given  to 
the  Commission  by  such  men  as  Mr.  L.  J.  Lippmann,  Secretary  of  the  New  York 
Branch  of  the  National  League  of  Commission  Merchants;  Mr.  John  Buckle,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Gansevoort  Market  Business  Men's  Association;  Mr.  George  S.  Otis,  of 
the  West  Washington  Market  Association ;  and  Mr.  Carl  A.  Koelsch,  President  of 
the  Washington  Market  Merchants'  Association ;  and  by  such  women  as  Mrs.  Elmer 
Black,  Mrs.  Flora  Spiegelberg,  Mrs.  Julian  Heath,  President  of  the  National  House- 
wives' League;  Mrs.  Bleecker  Bangs,  and  Dr.  Mary  E.  Pennington,  Chief  of  the 
Food  Research  Laboratory  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture.  Mrs. 
Black  accumulated  a  great  deal  of  valuable  data  on  a  tour  of  markets  in  Europe 
which  she  laid  before  the  Commission  in  her  testimony  and  in  a  report  which  she 
printed  and  distributed  at  her  own  expense.  The  Commission  has  been  fortunate  in 
being  able  to  secure  several  detailed  studies  of  special  features  of  modern  marketing 
by  persons  having  expert  knowledge  of  the  subjects  treated.  These  will  be  found 
appended. 

III.    SUMMARY  OF  MARKET   CONDITIONS   IN   NEW  YORK  CITY 

The  marketing  system  of  New  York  City  may  be  briefly  outlined  and  its  greatest 
defects  indicated  as  follows: 

(1)  Food  supplies  are  brought  to  the  city  for — 

1.  A  resident  population  of  5,000,000. 

2.  A  transient  and  commuting  population  numbering  many  thousands  daily. 

3.  The  provisioning  of  outgoing  steamships  and  trains. 

4.  Export  to  other  cities  and  towns. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  value  of  the  foodstuffs  brought  to  New  York  City 
annually  is  $900,000,000. 

(2)  Most  of  New  York's  food  supplies  are  brought  by  railroad  and  steamship  and 

come  over  great  distances.  , 


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(3)  The  farming  district  around  the  city  is  not  great  enough  or  varied  enough  in  its 

productivity  or  producing  in  long  enough  seasons  to  supply  the  needs  of  the 
city  in  any  line.  Suburban  developments  are  all  the  time  pushing  the  farm 
lands  farther  and  farther  away.  It  is  impossible  to  alleviate  conditions  by 
establishing  markets  for  producers  to  sell  to  consumers. 

(4)  New  York  City  has  no  modern  wholesale  market.    Supplies  are  received  at  many 

points,  chiefly  at  the  lower  end  of  Manhattan  Island,  are  sold  sometimes  at  the 
terminals  and  sometimes  at  the  stores  of  the  dealers,  and  thence  must  be 
trucked  all  over  the  city  and  out  to  suburban  places. 

(5)  The  terminals  in  the  city  where  food  products  are  brought  in  are  entirely  those 

provided  by  the  transportation  lines  and  are  not  sufficient  to  handle  the  volume 
of  business  that  passes  through  them,  in  the  right  way.  There  is  a  great  deal 
of  congestion  of  trucks  and  wagons,  causing  delay  in  moving  the  goods,  and  in- 
sufficient means  of  protecting  the  goods  from  the  weather  and  from  extremes 
of  temperature.    Proper  inspection  is  difficult. 

(6)  There  is  no  supervision  of  marketing  on  the  part  of  the  city  as  there  is  in  foreign 

cities  and  in  some  cities  of  our  own  country. 

IV.    PRESENT  METHODS  OF  MARKETING  FARM  CROPS 

A  hundred  years  ago  the  perishable  farm  products  used  in  the  city  all  came  from 
nearby  farms — there  were  no  means  of  bringing  them  over  greater  distances.  When 
Washington  Market  was  built  in  1812  it  was  a  place  where  the  farmer  brought  his 
goods  and  sold  them  to  the  people.  To-day  conditions  are  more  complex  and  the 
means  of  establishing  a  direct  route  between  producer  and  consumer  less  obvious,  but 
public  interest  in  the  matter  and  public  provision  of  the  right  kind  of  market  is  not 
less  important. 

To-day  the  development  of  railroad  and  steamship  has  brought  the  farms  of 
South  Carolina  and  Kansas  as  near  New  York  City  as  were  those  of  Long  Island 
and  Westchester  County  one  hundred  years  ago.  It  has  removed  any  limitations  on 
the  growth  of  the  city  imposed  by  the  difficulty  of  getting  an  adequate  food  supply, 
and,  as  a  consequence,  the  city  has  grown  until  it  is  dependent  upon  the  production 
of  a  very  wide  area  for  its  continued  existence. 

The  commonest  articles  of  food  are  often  brought  great  distances :  potatoes,  for 
instance,  are  brought  to  the  New  York  market  from  Maine,  from  the  Western  States, 
from  Bermuda,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Belgium;  onions,  from  the  South — Virginia, 
South  Carolina,  and  Texas,  from  the  Western  States,  and  from  Italy  and  Spain;  green 
vegetables  of  all  kinds  are  brought  from  nearby  farms  and  in  very  large  quantities 
from  the  South  and  West — in  the  flush  season  one  railroad  bringing  over  300  car- 
loads a  day,  and  one  steamship  line  running  two  steamers  daily  in  the  busy  season 
between  New  York  and  Virginia;  oranges  and  grapefruit  come  from  California  and 
Florida,  the  West  Indies  and  Mediterranean  ports ;  apples,  from  New  England  and 
New  York,  the  Middle  West,  Oregon  and  Washington ;  cauliflower  comes  in  the 
early  season  from  Cape  May  and  later  from  Long  Island;  melons  from  California, 
Colorado  and  the  South;  bananas,  from  the  West  Indies  and  South  America,  and 
so  on. 

Under  these  conditions  it  is  impossible  for  marketing  to  be  carried  on  to  any  great 
extent  directly  between  producer  and  consumer.  An  army  of  middlemen  are  engaged 
in  collecting,  grading,  shipping,  and  distributing  the  farm  produce  used  in  the  city, 
and,  though  they  have  been  accused  of  dishonest  practices,  and  sometimes  justly  so,  it 
is  likely  that  a  considerable  evolution  in  marketing  methods  will  have  to  take  place 


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before  their  services  can  be  dispensed  with.  They  perform  labor  that  individual  con- 
sumers could  not  perform  for  themselves  without  expense  far  greater  than  the 
middlemen  impose.  That  is  not  to  say,  however,  that  products  do  not  often  pass 
through  too  many  hands  and  have  too  many  increments  added  to  their  prices. 
It  is  the  very  fact  that  present  conditions  necessitate  this  that  leads  us  to  propose 
better  marketing  facilities  for  the  city. 

The  men  who  handle  the  farm  products  between  the  farm  and  the  New  York  City 
consumer  may  be  classified  roughly  as:  (1)  shippers,  (2)  commission  merchants  and 
wholesalers,  (3)  jobbers,  (4)  retailers. 

The  ways  in  which  goods  are  collected  and  shipped  to  market  vary  greatly. 
Many  of  the  farmers  nearby  drive  in  themselves  with  their  goods  and  sell  to  jobbers 
and  retailers  in  the  few  market  squares  provided  by  the  city.  Those  who  are  too 
far  away  to  do  this  may  be  in  touch  with  some  merchant  in  the  city  and  ship  to  him, 
or  they  may  sell  to  a  collecting  agent  or  to  a  country  storekeeper  who  acts  as  a 
collecting  agent  and  ships  goods  to  merchants  in  the  city.  Many  commission  houses 
employ  agents  to  go  through  the  country  districts  and  buy  from  the  farms.  The 
prices  they  give  are  apt  to  be  low,  but  the  farmer  often  prefers  a  cash  sale  at  a 
low  price  to  the  risks  of  sending  goods  to  a  distant  market  on  his  own  responsibility. 
Many  commission  houses  also  employ  men  in  the  country  to  grade,  pack,  and  ship 
the  goods  thus  collected  from  the  farmers,  as  the  farmers  are  often  quite  as  unreliable 
in  grading  and  packing  their  goods  as  the  middlemen  are  reputed  to  be  in  selling 
them.  Many  farmers  specialize  in  certain  products  so  that  they  may  ship  in  carload 
lots  to  commission  merchants  or  wholesalers. 

Recent  years  have  seen  the  formation  of  a  great  many  cooperative  associations 
of  producers.  Where  the  farmers  of  a  district  all  raise  more  or  less  of  the  same 
products  they  unite  in  an  association  to  take  charge  of  the  grading,  packing,  shipping, 
and  marketing  of  their  goods.  They  do  not  eliminate  the  middleman,  but  they 
eliminate  his  profits.  They  employ  him  and  pay  him  a  fixed  salary  for  his  service  and 
return  to  their  members  any  surplus  that  accrues  over  the  expenses  of  the  association. 
Such  an  association  well  managed  is  the  best  protection  the  farmer  can  have.  By  its 
size  and  importance  it  inspires  respect,  and,  by  establishing  a  uniform  system  of  grad- 
ing and  marking  goods  that  is  known  and  trusted,  it  protects  its  members  from  the 
worst  enemy  they  have,  the  dishonest  farmer,  who,  by  fraudulent  packing,  destroys 
the  confidence  of  buyers  that  goods  will  be  as  represented.  Many  of  these  associa- 
tions keep  in  constant  touch  with  conditions  in  all  the  large  markets  of  the  country 
and,  after  shipments  are  on  their  way,  divert  them  by  telegraph  at  intermediate  points 
from  their  original  destinations  to  other  cities  where  the  markets  promise  better 
prices. 

The  largest  receivers  in  the  city  are  the  commission  merchants  or  wholesalers 
who  receive  goods  on  consignment  or  sale  and  sell  to  jobbers  and  sometimes  retailers. 
There  are  something  over  500  men  engaged  in  the  commission  business  in  this  city. 
In  general,  they  charge  a  commission  of  five  per  cent,  on  sales.  All  sorts  of  mal- 
practices have  been  attributed  to  them,  such  as  reporting  goods  as  received  in  bad 
condition  when  they  really  have  arrived  in  good  condition,  holding  back  goods  in  the 
freight  yards  to  keep  prices  high,  reporting  sales  as  made  at  the  day's  low  figure 
when  they  were  really  made  at  a  higher,  charging  higher  rates  for  cartage  to  shippers 
than  they  paid  the  truckmen,  etc.  Enough  of  these  things  have  been  endured  by  the 
shippers  to  cast  suspicion  in  their  minds  upon  the  whole  group.  The  enactment  of 
protective  measures  and  greater  publicity  of  market  conditions  should  do  much  to 
remedy  the  situation.  Such  measures  should  be  welcomed  by  those  who  arc  seeking 
to  do  an  honest  business,  unless  they  throw  an  unfair  burden  on  the  trade. 

Advanced  legislation  has  been  enacted  in  this  line  in  some  of  the  Western  States, 
notably  Minnesota,  and  a  beginning  has  been  made  in  New  York  in  the  bill  passed 


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last  year  requiring  the  registration  of  all  commission  merchants  and  the  giving  of  a 
bond  of  $3,000  to  ensure  fair  dealing.  This  gives  greater  protection  to  shippers  than 
they  have  had  before,  but  it  throws  the  burden  entirely  on  the  commission  man, 
whereas  the  standards  of  honesty  among  shippers  have  not  always  been  found  to  be 
above  reproach.  It  would  seem  to  be  no  more  than  fair  to  provide  for  a  similar 
registration  of  shippers  with  the  State  or  National  Bureau  of  Agriculture,  and  the 
establishment  of  standard  requirements  for  the  grading  of  farm  produce.  Shippers 
could  then  be  held  accountable  to  such  Department  of  Agriculture  for  false  marking 
of  goods,  and,  in  time,  the  shipper's  registry  number  or  identification  mark  on  a 
package  would  come  to  be  recognized  as  a  guarantee  of  quality.  Such  measures 
increase  business  confidence. 

It  is  impossible  for  the  large  wholesale  dealers  and  commission  men  in  the  city 
to  conduct  their  businesses  on  such  a  scale  that  they  can  divide  up  their  goods  into 
small  enough  lots  to  sell  to  the  ordinary  small  retailers.  For  this  reason  an  intermedi- 
ate group  of  middlemen  has  arisen,  known  in  the  New  York  market  as  jobbers,  who 
perform  the  next  step  in  the  dividing  and  distributing  process.  Goods  sometimes  pass 
through  the  hands  of  three  or  four  such  dealers  before  reaching  the  retailer.  They 
sell  to  hotels  and  to  fruit  and  vegetable  dealers  in  the  outlying  districts  who  cannot 
take  the  time  necessary  to  buy  in  the  primary  markets,  to  go  from  place  to  place  and 
select  just  the  right  grade  of  goods  for  their  trade,  and  many  of  whom  cannot  take 
goods  in  large  enough  lots  to  buy  as  the  commission  dealers  must  sell.  Some  deliver  at 
their  stores  to  the  retailers'  wagons,  some  make  deliveries  by  their  own  or  hired 
trucks,  and  others  drive  around  from  store  to  store  and  sell  to  grocers  and 
vegetable  men.  The  Harlem  Market  in  Manhattan  contains,  in  addition  to  the 
farmers'  market,  a  jobbers'  market,  and  is  the  base  of  supplies  for  many  dealers  in 
upper  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx,  as  it  is  the  nearest  market  where  they  find  any 
considerable  variety.  There  are  also  some  jobbers  and  some  direct  receivers  in  The 
Bronx.  In  Wallabout  Market,  where  most  of  the  Brooklyn  merchants  get  their  sup- 
plies of  perishable  goods,  the  dealers  are  jobbers  for  the  most  part,  who  buy  from 
the  large  receivers  in  Manhattan — in  some  cases  Lx)ng  Island  produce  that  has  been 
taken  into  Manhattan  for  its  first  selling  and  then  brought  back — and  at  the  Brooklyn 
terminals. 

We  have  retail  stores  of  various  types :  large  markets  carrying  meats,  groceries, 
fruits,  and  vegetables ;  chains  of  grocery  stores  and  individual  grocers,  butchers,  dairy 
stores,  fruit  and  vegetable  men,  and  delicatessen  stores.  Of  late  years  there  has  been 
a  considerable  increase  in  the  number  of  small  neighborhood  stores,  and,  while  the 
system  makes  necessary  some  duplication  of  overhead  expense  and  service,  they  are 
a  great  convenience  to  the  majority  of  buyers  and  are  so  regarded.  So  many  people 
live  in  small  apartments  where  there  is  no  space  to  store  supplies  for  more  than  a 
few  days'  consumption  that  they  must  buy  often  and  in  small  quantities,  and,  to  save 
time,  nearby.  The  convenience  and  personal  service  of  these  small  stores  outweigh 
many  advantages  that  the  large  markets  offer.  The  main  advantage  of  the  large 
retail  market  now  lies  in  its  ability  to  buy  cheaply  in  large  quantities.  If  the  small 
retailer  can  have  access  to  a  terminal  market  where  he  can  buy  goods  before  they 
have  passed  through  two  or  three  hands,  and  can  learn  to  combine  with  other  retailers 
in  buying,  he  will  be  able  to  compete,  not  only  in  service  but  in  price,  with  the  large 
retail  market.  There  has  been  an  increase  in  the  number  of  small  neighborhood 
stores  which  deal  in  a  few  articles  and  sell  their  entire  stock  every  day  or  two.  This 
approximates  the  practice  of  the  pushcart  dealer,  who  is  the  cheapest  retailer  in  the 
trade. 


14 


V.  PRICES 

Many  elements  go  to  make  up  the  prices  the  consumers  in  the  city  pay  for  farm 
produce.    Chief  of  these  are — 

Costs  of  production. 
Grading  and  packing. 
Transportation. 
Costs  of  selling  by — 

Commission  merchants  and  wholesalers. 

Jobbers. 

Retailers. 
Regrading  and  repacking. 
Trucking. 
Storage. 
Loss. 

In  general,  the  costs  of  production  in  recent  years  have  increased.  The  trend  of 
population  toward  the  cities  has  lessened  the  available  supply  of  farm  labor.  In 
many  places  where  a  few  years  ago  farm  labor  could  be  had  at  $2.25  a  day  farmers 
are  now  actually  suffering  for  want  of  labor  at  $2.50  a  day.  Cultivation  has  grown 
more  intensive  and  the  use  of  costly  fertilizers  has  become  common.  Better  fruits 
and  vegetables  are  being  produced  to  meet  the  growing  demand  for  better  quality,  but 
often  by  costly  methods  that  do  not  necessarily  increase  the  quantity  of  production. 
The  market  to-day  demands  more  careful  grading,  and  transportation  over  great  dis- 
tances, more  careful  packing  than  formerly,  all  of  which  means  added  cost  for  labor. 

In  most  instances  where  prices  have  risen  in  the  last  ten  years  the  cost  of 
transportation  has  remained  a  constant  factor.  The  cost  of  railroad  transportation 
is  not  high,  though  rates  on  small  lots  are  much  higher  and  service  slower  than  on 
carloads,  and  it  does  not  add  a  large  percentage  to  the  cost  of  food.  It  averages 
7  mills  per  ton  mile,  as  compared  with  3  mills  per  ton  mile  for  transportation  over 
inland  waterways,  and  23  cents  per  ton  mile  for  transportation  by  horse-drawn 
truck.  In  other  words,  a  ton  of  freight  could  be  transported  by  rail  nearly  700  miles 
for  what  it  would  cost  to  carry  it  20  miles  by  horse-drawn  conveyance.  The  ill 
effects  of  the  long  time  required  for  such  long  hauls  are  obviated  by  the  use  of 
ventilated  and  refrigerated  cars,  and,  in  comparison  with  those  of  wagon  transporta- 
tion, are  offset  by  the  greater  damage  caused  by  the  jolting  of  a  wagon.  This  very 
low  railroad  rate  in  comparison  with  the  cost  of  trucking  puts  a  distant  producer 
almost  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  one  nearby  who  drives  to  market,  and  tends  to 
equalize  conditions  throughout  the  country. 

The  general  wholesale  price  levels  that  prevail  on  most  commodities  are  the  result 
of  a  balance  of  forces  over  which  the  city  has  little  control.  The  practice  of  large 
individual  shippers  and  producers'  associations  of  shipping  in  carload  lots  and  diverting 
shipments  in  transit  to  the  most  favorable  markets,  and  the  extended  use  of  refrigera- 
tion in  storing  surplus  products,  have  tended  to  give  stability  to  markets  and  to 
level  up  prices  in  all  the  large  markets  of  the  country. 

Production,  however,  is  hampered  by  a  lack  of  good  markets  in  the  large  cities. 
Even  low  prices  are  not  so  great  a  burden  on  the  farmer  as  uncertainty  of  being 
able  to  market  his  goods.  If  the  farmer  can  be  sure  of  a  market  for  his  goods  he  will 
produce  more,  and  can  afford  to  take  a  lower  price,  and  still  make  more  money  than 
he  did  before.  For  example,  he  can  raise  200  bushels  of  potatoes  for  very  little  more 
than  the  cost  of  raising  100  bushels.    If  he  sells  the  100  bushels  for  50  cents  a 


IS 


bushel  they  will  bring  $50.  If  he  sells  the  200  bushels  for  40  cents  a  bushel  they  will 
bring  $80.  Certainty  of  a  market  will  induce  him  to  raise  200  bushels,  to  the  benefit 
both  of  himself  and  the  consumer.  Our  lack  of  good  markets  tends,  therefore,  to 
keep  out  of  the  city  foodstuffs  that  we  might  consume  and  our  lack  of  good  dis- 
tributing facilities  in  the  city  adds  a  large  percentage  of  cost  to  the  goods  we 
receive.  This  percentage  can  be  reduced  by  providing  better  facilities  for  wholesale 
distribution,  and  prices  to  that  extent  lessened,  while  a  larger  percentage  of  what  the 
consumer  pays  will  be  returned  to  the  farmer. 

The  most  expensive  part  of  the  distributing  system  is  the  retailing.  Analyses  of 
price  increments  from  producer  to  consumer  show  the  greatest  percentage  of 
increase  to  be  between  the  wholesaler's  price  and  the  retailer's  price.  This  means 
that  the  costs  of  distribution  in  the  city  are  greater  than  the  costs  of 
getting  goods  to  the  city,  or  that  the  means  used  are  much  less  efficient, 
or  both.  The  retailer  is  not  to  blame  for  the  large  increase  which  he  adds  to  the 
price.  His  services  are  many  times  more  complex  and  costly  in  themselves  than 
the  services  of  any  of  the  other  middlemen.  These  dealers  are  under  expense  for 
rent  and  advertising,  for  getting  their  supplies  to  their  stores,  for  maintaining  sanitary 
conditions  and  attractive  appearance,  for  telephone  and  delivery  service  and  carrying 
credit  accounts.  The  habit  of  telephoning  and  demanding  delivery  many  times  a 
day — a  practice  which  in  the  aggregate  probably  adds  a  considerable  percentage  to 
the  cost  of  food — has  become  common,  and  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  it  will  be 
broken  easily. 

Every  step  toward  better  living  conditions  has  its  price  and  must  be  judged  ac- 
cording to  whether  it  is  worth  that  price.  Precautions  for  cleanliness,  such  as  putting 
goods  in  packages,  and  wrapping  fruit  in  tissue  paper,  and  the  convenience  of  having 
a  multiplicity  of  small  stores  with  their  duplication  of  service,  all  mean  increased 
cost,  and,  so  long  as  the  public  demands  these  things  and  pays  the  price,  business 
will  continue  to  provide  them.  If  the  retail  dealer  can  find  a  market  such  as  a 
wholesale  terminal  market,  where  he  can  buy  his  goods  cheaper,  he  will  be  able  to 
sell  them  cheaper.  Especially  will  this  be  so  with  the  small  dealers  who  now  must 
keep  horse  and  wagon  to  go  to  market.  If  they  can  have  their  goods  delivered  to 
them  by  automobile  trucks  from  the  market  for  a  nominal  charge  one  of  their 
expenses  will  be  lessened.  Another  cause  of  expense  to  the  retail  dealer  is  the 
fact  that,  while  he  deals  mainly  in  a  small  number  of  articles,  he  often  thinks  it 
necessary  to  invest  his  capital  in  a  large  number  of  articles  which  remain  on  show 
in  his  store  and  are  seldom  bought.   This  is  dead  capital,  which  adds  to  his  expense. 

It  has  been  suggested,  and  the  idea  is  being  tried  out  in  some  places,  that  retail 
dealers  should  have  different  prices  for  the  same  goods,  according  to  the  service 
they  render.  For  example,  one  price  for  cash  sales  to  people  who  carry  the  goods 
away  themselves;  a  higher  price  for  cash  and  delivery;  a  still  higher  price  for  credit 
and  delivery.  This  would  ensure  the  customer  who  paid  cash  and  carried  away  his 
goods  the  minimum  price  and  save  him  from  paying  the  bills  of  other  customers 
who  bought  goods  on  credit  and  failed  to  pay  their  bills.  It  is  an  open  question 
whether  such  a  plan  will  be  feasible.  The  same  end  will  probably  be  reached,  in 
some  neighborhoods  at  least,  by  the  establishment  of  small  stores  dealing  in  a  few 
articles  and  selling  for  cash  to  customers  who  live  near  enough  to  carry  the  goods 
away. 

The  greatest  fault  of  the  present  retailing  system  is  the  inflexibility  of  prices.  They 
fail  to  reflect  the  fluctuations  of  wholesale  prices  so  greatly  that  the  wholesale  market 
may  be  glutted  and  goods  be  spoiling  in  the  freight  yards,  and  the  retail  prices 
through  the  city  be  scarcely  depressed.  This  condition  is  due  to  many  causes:  A 
season  of  high  prices  will  accustom  the  public  to  regard  those  prices  as  normal,  with 
the  result  that  they  either  cease  to  buy  the  article  or  view  with  suspicion  goods 


16 


•marked  at  a  lower  figure.  The  public  knows  very  little  about  wholesale  prices,  as 
they  are  not  reported  in  a  way  to  reach  average  consumers;  consequently  the  demand 
for  goods  is  not  formed  intelligently.  The  system  of  marketing  goods  through  a 
long  series  of  dealers  tends  toward  rigidity  in  demand  and  price.  Both  jobber 
and  retailer  are  cautious  about  buying  more  than  their  accustomed  trade  will  move 
off,  and  will  rather  buy  the  usual  quantity  and  hold  it  at  a  profitable  price  than 
take  the  risk  of  buying  freely  when  the  market  is  low  and  working  up  a  demand  for 
the  goods.  Better  markets  that  will  put  the  retailer  in  direct  touch  with  primary 
market  conditions,  together  with  greater  publicity  of  wholesale  prices,  will  un- 
doubtedly make  him  and  his  trade  more  responsive  to  conditions  of  supply. 

VI.    PRESENT  FACILITIES  FOR  DISTRIBUTION  WITHIN  THE  CITY 

We  have  in  New  York  large  markets  for  many  commodities — such  as  the  Produce 
Exchange,  the  Stock  Exchange,  the  Wool  Exchange,  and  the  Cotton  Exchange — but 
■we  have  no  Food  Exchange.  The  New  York  market  for  fresh  produce  is  not  centered 
in  any  one  place,  except  in  the  case  of  a  few  products,  such  as  California  fruits, 
which  are  marketed  on  the  Erie  piers.  The  idea  of  a  large  central  market  where  the 
maximum  of  products  and  the  maximum  of  buyers  can  meet  does  not  obtain  in  the 
provisioning  of  the  city:  the  business  is  conducted  on  a  minimum  basis,  every  dealer 
buying  only  the  goods  which  he  can  dispose  of  to  customers  with  whom  he  comes  in 
personal  contact. 

The  primary  food  market  of  the  city  comprises  a  large  district  in  lower  Manhattan, 
containing  the  terminals  of  railroad  and  steamship  lines  bringing  food  to  the  city,  and 
the  warehouses  and  stores  of  dealers  of  all  kinds,  and  a  few  scattered  terminals  in 
the  outlying  boroughs,  where  a  limited  number  of  products  are  received  and  marketed. 
Then  there  are  various  secondary  wholesale  distributing  points  or  "jobbing"  markets, 
such  as  Harlem  Market  at  East  102d  Street  for  garden  produce,  Westchester  Avenue 
and  German  Place  in  The  Bronx  for  meats,  butter,  eggs,  cheese,  and  some  produce; 
and  Wallabout  Market  in  Brooklyn  for  all  kinds  of  produce.  Distribution  in  the 
city  is  effected  by  a  series  of  makeshifts.  Where  it  is  possible  marketing  is  conducted 
■on  the  piers  and  terminals,  and  so  in  places  we  have  the  germ  of  the  terminal  market 
idea,  but  the  terminals,  as  a  rule,  have  not  been  constructed  with  this  purpose  in 
view  and  are  by  no  means  adequate  for  the  amount  of  business  that  must  be  done. 
The  only  public  market  we  have  in  Manhattan  which  is  in  any  sense  a  terminal 
market  is  West  Washington  Market,  but  it  has  connection  with  only  one  railroad. 
The  fact,  however,  that  marketing  is  done  in  this  way  at  all  shows  that  the  idea  has 
a  foundation  in  present  conditions  and  has  been  worked  out  naturally  by  business  men 
and  is  not  something  to  be  forced  on  the  trade  by  theorists  from  outside. 

The  city's  food  supplies  are  brought  in  chiefly  by  the  following  agencies: 

(1)  Nine  railroads:  the  New  York  Central,  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and 
Hartford,  the  Pennsylvania,  the  Erie,  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  the  Delaware,  Lacka- 
wanna &  Western,  the  Lehigh  Valley,  the  Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey,  and  the 
Long  Island  Railroad, 

(2)  Twenty-three  steamship  lines  docking  along  the  Manhattan  waterfront,  in- 
cluding the  Old  Dominion  Line,  the  Clyde  Line,  and  others. 

Twenty-two  steamship  lines  docking  along  the  Brooklyn  waterfront. 

(3)  Wagons  from  farms  within  a  radius  of  forty  miles  coming  to  Gansevoort  and 
Harlem  Markets  in  Manhattan  and  Wallabout  Market  in  Brooklyn.  In  the  busiest 
season  between  200  and  300  farm  wagons  come  daily  to  Gansevoort  and  Harlem 
Markets  each,  and  something  over  400  to  Wallabout.  The  amount  they  can  bring 
seems   inconsiderable  when   we  consider  that  one   railroad  alone   averages  100 


17 


carloads  a  day  of  food  products  the  year  round,  and  in  the  producing  season  brings 
between  300  and  40O  carloads  of  produce  daily  to  the  market.  The  great  expense 
of  wagon  transportation  as  compared  with  rail  is  a  factor  also  that  must  be  con- 
sidered. 

The  New  York  Central  Railroad  is  the  only  one  whose  tracks  reach  the  Manhattan 
market  district.  The  New  Haven  road  comes  into  The  Bronx,  and  the  Long  Island 
road  into  Long  Island  City,  and  both  these  have  receiving  piers  in  Manhattan  on  the 
East  River.  Marketing  of  a  few  products  is  done  at  the  New  Haven  terminal  in 
The  Bronx  and  at  terminals  of  the  Long  Island  Railroad  in  Long  Island  City  and 
Brooklyn.  The  other  railroads  have  their  terminals  on  the  Jersey  shore  of  the 
North  River  (except  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  in  Staten  Island),  and  maintain  receiving 
piers  in  Manhattan  on  the  North  River,  to  which  loaded  cars  are  brought  on  floats. 
They  have,  however,  no  trackage  facilities  at  these  points.  These  roads  also  make 
carfloat  deliveries  where  required,  at  terminals  in  The  Bronx  and  Brooklyn.  The 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  brings  the  greatest  quantity  of  perishables  to  the  city,  its 
piers,  Nos.  27,  28,  and  29,  forming  a  wholesale  market  for  vegetables  and  fruits.  The 
Erie  brings  in  95  per  cent,  of  the  California  fruits  coming  here,  which  are  sold  at 
their  piers  at  public  auction.  Live  poultry  is  brought  by  other  roads  and  very 
largely  by  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western,  the  latter  road  making  a  specialty 
of  improved  cars  for  this  business. 

The  goods  that  are  brought  over  by  these  roads  on  carfloats  are  unloaded  from 
the  cars  onto  the  piers  and  in  many  cases  are  sold  there  by  the  consignees  and  taken 
away  by  the  buyers — jobbers  and  retailers.  Otherwise  they  are  trucked  away  by 
the  consignees  to  be  sold  at  their  stores.  This  is  an  efficient  way  of  doing  business — 
that  is,  it  is  as  efficient  a  way  as  the  business  can  be  done  under  the  present  condi- 
tions— but  the  space  on  the  piers  is  insufficient  to  accommodate  buyers,  sellers,  goods 
and  trucks  without  great  delays,  which  cause  expense  and  considerable  spoilage  of 
goods,  because  the  construction  of  the  piers  is,  in  most  cases,  not  such  as  will  protect 
the  goods  during  the  long  delays  from  harmful  temperatures  and  other  bad  weather 
conditions,  and  the  city  has  now  grown  too  great  in  size  to  depend  on  a  primary 
market  in  only  one  borough.  In  seasons  when  the  receipts  are  heavy  it  not  infre- 
quently happens  that  the  congestion  at  the  Manhattan  terminals  will  hold  back  carloads 
of  goods  in  the  Jersey  yards  for  days  before  they  can  be  discharged  for  sale. 
Sometimes  they  are  held  back  until  they  spoil  and  are  a  total  loss  to  producer  and 
consumer.  There  are  now  no  markets  organized  in  such  a  way  that  they  can  take  this 
excess.  This  condition  indicates  how  important  it  is  to  have  satisfactory  terminals 
as  feeders  for  the  retail  markets  of  the  city.  A  great  saving  and  much  more  rapid 
movement  of  goods  would  be  effected  if  the  city  had  a  system  of  terminal  markets 
where  loaded  cars  could  be  taken  off  of  the  floats  and  run  into  the  market  buildings, 
where  the  goods  could  be  sold  directly  from  the  cars  and  delivered  to  the  buyers  with 
only  one  handling,  and  where  goods  shipped  in  refrigerator  cars  could  be  unloaded 
directly  in  favorable  temperatures. 

The  present  primary  market  in  Manhattan  is  too  congested  and  too  far  away 
from  the  rapidly  growing  outlying  boroughs  to  be  the  base  of  supplies  for  the 
greater  percentage  of  the  retailers  of  the  city.  The  time  and  labor  of  going  to  this 
market  are  too  great  and  the  dealers  are  forced  to  buy  from  the  nearer  jobbing 
centers.  This  lengthens  the  chain  of  middlemen  and  makes  much  trucking  necessary. 
It  is  estimated  that  there  are,  on  an  average,  over  1,000  trucks  working  in  the  market 
district  daily,  and  that  a  truck  must  earn  $7  a  day  to  pay  for  itself.  This  alone  im- 
poses a  daily  tax  on  our  food  supply  of  $7,000,  which  does  not  include  the  cost  of 
all  the  grocers'  wagons  that  make  daily  trips  of  from  2  or  3  to  15  miles  to  reach  the 
wholesale  market. 

Wallabout  Market  is  an  important  distributing  center  for  Brooklyn,  but  the  lack 


18 


of  facilities  for  receiving  consignments  of  freight  prevents  it  from  being  more  than 
a  secondary  market.  Much  of  what  is  sold  there  is  brought  from  Manhattan  by 
truck  and  marketing  is  not  done  on  the  docks  that  they  have.  Trackage  into  the 
market  would  eliminate  one  extra  handling  of  goods  as  well  as  facilitate  the  entrance 
of  more  goods  and  so  encourage  shippers  to  consign  there. 

Harlem  Market  at  East  102d  Street  is  centrally  located  for  a  vast  population. 
It  is  the  base  of  supplies  for  most  uptown  Manhattan  and  Bronx  retailers.  This  is  a 
privately  owned  market  to  which  farmers  come,  chiefly  from  Long  Island,  crossing 
the  99th  Street  ferry  from  College  Point.  The  charges  for  market  wagons  are  some- 
what higher  than  in  Gansevoort  Market,  but  quite  as  many  farmers  go  there  because 
the  long  haul  downtown  is  saved.  The  market  has  no  connection  with  any  railroad 
or  other  transportation  lines.  In  the  Harlem  Market  itself  most  of  the  produce  comes 
in  by  the  farmers'  wagons,  but  there  has  grown  up  in  that  immediate  neighborhood 
a  large  center  of  produce  commission  men  who  get  their  produce  in  the  usual  way — 
by  wagon  from  down  town. 

There  is  no  distributing  market  whatever  for  the  Borough  of  Richmond,  though 
the  presence  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  terminal  at  St.  George  should  make  it  easy  to 
develop  one.  At  present  there  are  not  even  means  to  distribute  to  the  dealers  of 
the  island  the  part  that  they  need  of  what  the  island  itself  produces,  more  than  is 
provided  by  the  private  transactions  between  individual  growers  and  retailers.  Beyond 
one  or  two  commission  men  there,  there  are  no  means  for  wholesale  distribution. 
It  is  impossible  for  the  railroad  to  develop  the  car-lot  business  there  without  a 
terminal  market  to  dispose  of  the  goods.  Wagons  from  the  farms  come  up  by  the 
ferry  to  Gansevoort  Market,  and  the  retailers  come  up  to  the  same  district  to  buy. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  they  sometimes  buy  Staten  Island  produce  and  truck  it  back 
again.  They  must,  of  course,  buy  in  a  market  where  there  is  variety  enough  to  supply 
their  needs. 

The  Borough  of  The  Bronx  is  the  most  rapidly  growing  borough  of  the  city  and 
it  has  much  undeveloped  territory.  Marketing  facilities  for  this  part  of  the  city  and 
for  the  communities  to  the  north  that  draw  their  supplies  from  the  New  York  market 
are  almost  non-existent.  Two  important  railroads — the  New  York  Central  and  the 
New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford — run  directly  into  the  borough  and  have  large 
terminals  there,  and  the  New  York  Connecting  Bridge,  now  building,  will  bring 
in  trains  from  the  Pennsylvania  system,  but  there  is  no  modern  market  there  where 
a  dealer  can  find  any  variety  of  supplies.  The  New  Haven  has  a  small  market 
building  with  22  compartments  at  its  terminal  at  132d  Street  and  Lincoln  Avenue, 
but  this  road  brings  a  limited  number  of  commodities  and  the  chief  trade  at  this 
point  is  in  Maine  potatoes.  The  New  York  Central  permits  marketing  from  the 
cars  in  its  Melrose  yard  at  158th  Street  and  Morris  Avenue  and  a  considerable  variety 
of  produce  is  to  be  found  there.  At  Westchester  Avenue  and  German  Place 
there  is  a  small  aggregation  of  commission  dealers  and  branches  of  the  meat  packing 
houses,  but  nothing  that  constitutes  a  modern  market.  The  dealers  for  the  most 
part  draw  their  supplies  from  the  jobbers  and  wholesalers  in  Harlem  and  Gansevoort 
Markets,  and  from  these  points  all  goods  are  trucked  out  to  the  borough.  Even 
fish,  which  is  brought  down  through  the  borough  in  large  quantities  by  the  New 
Haven  road,  is  all  lightered  from  the  railroad  terminal  to  the  Fulton  Market  district 
and  there  sold  at  wholesale,  and  what  is  used  in  The  Bronx  must  be  trucked  up  from 
there.  Produce  brought  down  by  the  New  York  Central  is  also  taken  through  the 
borough  down  on  the  west  side  tracks  to  the  Gansevoort  Market  district,  and  anything 
used  in  The  Bronx  must  be  taken  back  by  truck.  Several  other  railroads  have  car- 
float  terminals  in  the  borough,  but  shippers  do  not  consign  food  products  there  because 
there  is  no  market  to  dispose  of  them. 


19 


VII.    PRESENT  PUBLIC  MARKETS. 

The  present  public  markets  of  the  city  are :  West  Washington,  Gansevoort,  Fulton, 
Washington,  Jefferson  and  Delancey  Street,  in  Manhattan;  Wallabout,  in  Brooklyn. 
They  can  hardly  be  said  to  constitute  a  system  at  all  and  do  not  meet  the  needs  of 
present  conditions.  A  brief  description  of  them  will  show  how  little  the  city  has  done 
up  to  this  time  toward  handling  the  provisioning  of  the  city  and  considering  its 
problems  in  a  large  way. 

Fulton  Market 

Fulton  Market  is  located  at  Fulton  and  South  Streets,  where  it  was  established 
in  1821.  It  is  a  one-story  building  about  200  x  170  feet,  in  which  are  sold  meat, 
vegetables,  and  fish.  It  is  chiefly  known  for  its  fish  trade,  as  it  is  immediately  across 
the  street  from  the  wholesale  market  of  the  Fish  Mongers'  Association  on  the 
East  River  waterfront.  Years  ago  the  market  was  patronized  largely  by  people 
living  in  the  neighborhood  and  by  those  who  went  home  by  way  of  Fulton  Ferry; 
it  is  now,  however,  so  far  away  from  residential  neighborhoods  and  from  the  traffic 
lines  that  it  has  practically  no  retail  trade.  It  is  mainly  a  jobbing  market,  supplying 
steamships  and  hotels.  It  has  no  connection  with  any  transportation  line,  supplies 
being  brought  to  it  entirely  by  truck.  The  physical  condition  of  the  market  is  very 
poor,  and  it  is  estimated  that  it  would  cost  $60,000  to  put  it  in  proper  condition.  The 
Board  of  Health  now  has  a  violation  against  it  because  of  its  unsanitary  condition. 

Space  in  the  market  now  rents  for  $1.41  per  square  foot  per  year.  An  estimate 
of  the  total  income  and  costs  shows  an  average  yearly  expense  to  taxpayers  for  the 
last  three  years  of  $1,075  for  maintaining  this  market,  with  an  actual  profit  in  1912 
of  $63.78.  The  fact  that  there  is  now  no  demand  for  stands  in  the  market  and 
many  are  vacant,  and  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  spend  at  least  $60,000  to  put  the 
market  in  proper  condition,  on  which  investment  there  is  no  prospect  of  return, 
and  the  lack  of  any  evidence  that  the  continuance  of  the  market  is  of  any  benefit, 
direct  or  indirect,  to  the  public,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  Fulton  Market  has 
outlived  its  usefulness  and  should  be  discontinued. 

Washington  Market 

Washington  Market  is  located  at  Fulton  and  West  Streets  and  covers  an  area  of 
about  175  X  203  feet.  It  was  established  in  1812.  It  is  a  jobbing  and  retail  market 
of  the  same  general  character  as  Fulton,  but  the  building  is  in  much  better  condition 
and  it  has  more  business.  Meat,  fish  and  game,  butter,  eggs,  cheese,  fruits,  and 
vegetables  are  sold  there.  It  is  much  nearer  the  primary  markets,  except  for  fish,  than 
Fulton  Market.  Washington  Market  is  not  on  any  transportation  terminal  and 
contains  no  space  or  facilities  for  cold  storage  other  than  the  iceboxes  of  the  dealers. 

The  building  is  in  fair  condition,  $40,000  having  been  spent  on  it  in  repairs  in 
1911.  In  producing  an  adequate  return  on  the  money  invested  it  is  at  a  disadvantage 
in  the  fact  that  it  is  only  a  one-story  building.  The  ground  rent  there  is  high  and 
there  is  only  the  one  floor  to  produce  revenue.  Space  in  the  market  rents  for  about 
$1.40  per  square  foot  per  year.  There  is  competition  for  stands  there  because  the 
business  is  good.  The  rate  has  always  been  flat  for  all  locations,  but  some  places  in 
the  market  are  so  much  more  advantageous  for  trade  than  others  that  a  reappor- 
tioning of  the  rentals  is  now  being  worked  out  which  will  increase  the  income  on 
the  market  by  about  $7,000  a  year. 

The  average  cost  to  taxpayers  on  Washington  Market  for  the  last  three  years, 


20 


exclusive  of  $37,000  for  repairs  in  1911,  has  been  $18,380.  The  City  would  not,  we 
think,  be  justified  in  continuing  the  market  were  it  not  that  the  market  was  put  in 
fair  condition  in  1911  and  plans  are  now  under  way  to  put  it  in  first-class  condition 
and  make  it  self -supporting.  This  market,  too,  performs  a  useful  function  as  a 
base  of  supplies  for  many  of  the  restaurants  of  the  downtown  section,  where  many 
hundred  thousand  people  get  one  meal  a  day,  and  it  has  a  large  trade  with  many 
families  accustomed  for  years  to  dealing  there.  It  is  not,  however,  accessible  to  any 
large  percentage  of  the  consumers  of  the  city,  and  the  prices  there  have  no  effect  on 
retail  prices  throughout  the  city. 

Jefferson  Market 

Jefferson  Market  is  located  at  the  corner  of  Greenwich  Street  and  Sixth  Avenue 
and  occupies  about  36,000  square  feet.  It  is  about  a  mile  from  the  wholesale  markets 
and  its  trade  is  mostly  retail.  If  a  public  retail  market  of  this  type  can  be  successful 
this  one  should  be.  It  is  in  a  thickly  settled  section,  with  a  large  industrial  popula- 
tion on  the  west  and  the  wealthier  people  of  the  Washington  Square  section  on  the 
east.  The  trade  in  the  market,  however,  is  not  large  and  is  mainly  with  the  people 
on  the  east  Prices  in  the  market,  as  compared  with  those  in  private  stores  in  the 
neighborhood,  are  high.  The  market  is  valued  at  $190,000  and  space  in  it  rents  for 
about  $1.00  a  square  foot.  The  average  cost  to  the  taxpayers  for  this  market  has 
been  about  $5,000  a  year  for  the  past  three  years.  It  is  difficult  to  see  any  justification 
under  these  circumstances  for  the  city's  continuing  the  market,  which  does  not  serve 
the  general  public. 

West  Washington  Market 

West  Washington  Market  was  established  in  1889  at  Gansevoort  and  West 
Streets  and  covers  an  area  369  x  400  feet.  There  are  ten  buildings — two-story 
structures  built  in  blocks  of  twenty  stands  each,  with  marketing  space  on  the  first  floor 
and  offices  on  the  second.  The  buildings  are  in  fair  condition.  The  assessed  valuation 
of  the  market  is  $1,100,000  and  it  pays  the  city  a  profit  over  all  costs  of  over  $30,000  a 
year.  It  is  entirely  a  wholesale  market,  in  which  meat,  garden  produce,  and  live 
poultry  are  sold.    The  largest  sales  are  in  live  poultry. 

The  market  is  on  the  water  front  but  has  no  facilities  for  receiving  goods  by 
water.  It  receives  a  good  deal  by  rail.  The  dealers  in  the  market  are,  as  a  rule,  direct 
consignees.  The  stalls  in  the  market  average  in  size  from  12  x  18  to  18  x  25  feet, 
and  rent  for  about  $150  a  year.  They  are  fully  occupied.  When  one  becomes  vacant 
it  is  put  up  at  auction  and  sold  to  the  highest  bidder.  When  the  occupant  of  a  stand 
dies  the  stand  is  no  longer  transmitted  as  part  of  his  estate,  as  was  allowed  formerly, 
and  the  practice  of  sub-letting  stands  at  high  rentals  has  been  stopped. 

This  market  supplies  the  whole  city  with  live  poultry.  It  is  not  unusual  for  a 
single  dealer  to  handle  five  carloads  of  live  poultry  in  a  day.  The  market  has  no 
connection  with  any  railroad  but  the  New  York  Central,  goods  from  other  roads 
being  brought  to  it  by  truck.  The  dealers  sometimes  sell  their  goods  in  the  Jersey 
yards  and  sometimes  sell  at  the  market  without  unloading  from  the  truck.  There 
is  more  business  done  here  than  in  any  other  of  the  city's  markets. 

Gansevoort  Market 

Gansevoort  Market  is  an  open  market  square,  bounded  by  West,  Little  West  12th, 
Washington,  and  Gansevoort  Streets.  It  has  no  buildings  of  any  kind.  It  is  by 
legislation  restricted  to  the  use  of  farmers  and  gardeners  for  the  sale  of  products 


21 


they  themselves  have  grown.  Each  man  is  charged  a  fee  of  25  cents  daily.  The 
assessed  valuation  of  the  land  is  $850,000  and  the  average  annual  loss  on  the  market 
to  the  city  is  $40,000.  The  farmers  drive  in  to  this  market  from  a  radius  of  forty 
miles  around  the  city,  mostly  from  Long  Island.  In  the  season  there  are  from 
200  to  300  daily.  They  take  their  places  in  the  evening,  stable  their  horses  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  sell  in  the  early  morning  hours,  from  three  or  four  o'clock  on. 
There  is  no  protection  of  any  kind  from  bad  weather  conditions. 

The  market  is  not  large  enough  to  be  very  elastic.  There  is  often  a  surplus  of 
goods  not  in  demand  by  the  buyers  there  that  will  sell  for  next  to  nothing  because 
there  are  no  means  of  getting  it  to  other  buyers.  It  does  not  pay  the  farmer  in 
his  busy  season  to  stay  all  day  in  the  market;  he  needs  the  time  on  his  farm  and  is 
better  off  if  he  can  sell  his  stuff  quickly  in  bulk  to  a  wholesaler.  The  number  of 
farmers  to  make  use  of  such  a  market  as  Gansevoort  is  not  likely  to  increase,  as 
farm  lands  are  all  the  time  being  crowded  farther  and  farther  away  from  the  city. 
It  is  doubtful  if  there  is  enough  benefit  conferred  on  anybody  by  this  market  to  war- 
rant devoting  such  a  valuable  piece  of  property  exclusively  to  this  purpose,  at  such 
an  expense  to  the  city  at  large.  Provision  could  be  made  in  any  new  market  buildings 
that  are  planned  for  the  farmers'  market,  where  there  would  be  better  protection  to 
the  market  and  less  expense  to  the  city. 

Delancey  Street  Market 

The  Delancey  Street  Market  is  a  pushcart  market  located  under  the  approach  to 
Williamsburgh  Bridge  at  Pitt  and  Willett  Streets,  where  fish,  vegetables,  and  fruits, 
and  miscellaneous  dry  goods  are  sold.  It  occupies  space  400  x  100  feet  which  is  not 
rentable  for  any  other  purpose.  It  was  established  to  give  the  poor  people  of  the 
neighborhood  a  market  with  as  little  overhead  expense  as  possible.  There  is  no  build- 
ing, the  only  protection  to  the  market  being  the  bridge  structure.  In  the  fish  market 
places  rent  for  from  $1  to  $2  a  week,  according  to  location.  There  is  competition  for 
vacant  places,  the  applicants  drawing  lots  for  them.  In  the  rest  of  the  market  a  fee 
of  25  cents  a  day  is  charged  for  each  cart.  Plans  are  under  way  to  improve  the 
market  by  putting  in  a  new  floor  and  lighting  with  electricity.  As  the  maintenance 
expense  is  low  and  no  charge  is  made  against  the  market  for  interest  or  exemption 
from  taxation,  the  land  being  of  no  value  for  any  other  purpose,  the  net  profit  to 
the  city  on  this  market  last  year  was  $10,000. 

There  is  more  land  under  the  bridge  approach  at  this  point  that  is  now  vacant 
and  of  use  for  no  other  purpose,  which  offers  a  possible  site  for  a  live  poultry  market, 
should  it  be  decided  to  move  that  trade  from  West  Washington  Market.  The  bulk 
of  the  live  poultry  is  now  sold  in  New  Jersey  and  trucked  over  and  could  as  easily 
be  brought  to  one  place  as  the  other,  and  for  anything  coming  by  water  there  is 
good  dockage  at  the  foot  of  Delancey  Street. 

Wallabout  Market 

Wallabout  Market  in  Brooklyn  has  an  area  of  about  36  acres,  of  irregular  shape.  It 
is  located  on  lands  formerly  owned  by  the  Federal  Government,  extending  from 
Clinton  Avenue  to  East  Avenue,  to  Wallabout  Basin.  In  this  market  the  city  owns 
the  land  and  the  ground  is  leased  out  in  lots  to  individuals,  on  ten-year  leases,  with  a 
renewal  of  ten  years  at  the  expiration  of  that  time,  after  appraisal.  They  build  on 
the  sites  two-story  buildings,  which  must  conform  in  architecture  to  the  plans  of 
the  buildings  in  the  market,  which  they  occupy  or  sublet,  as  the  case  may  be,  and 
on  which  they  pay  taxes  to  the  city.  The  lots  average  in  size  25  x  50  feet.  The 
assessed  valuation  of  the  market  property  is  $1,150,000.    The  average  yearly  net 


22 


return  to  the  city,  taking  into  account  the  amount  received  in  taxes  on  the  buildings, 
is  $8,000.  The  average  ground  rent  per  stand  is  $17  a  month.  The  valuation  here 
given  does  not  include  the  bulkhead  property,  which  is  under  the  control  of  the  Dock 
Department,  and  which  yields  a  large  return  in  dock  rents.  There  are  over  100  lots 
in  the  market  still  unoccupied,  which,  when  taken  up,  will  add  considerably  to  the 
return  to  the  city. 

The  streets  in  the  market  are  well  paved  and  wide,  ranging  from  45  to  100 
feet  in  width.  On  Washington  Avenue  there  is  a  trolley  line  connecting  to  all 
points  in  Brooklyn.  There  are  also  a  number  of  carlines  on  Flushing  Avenue,  which 
leads  from  the  market  to  the  business  center  of  Brooklyn;  it  is  one  of  the  main 
arteries  of  traffic  east  and  west. 

There  are  terminal  facilities  on  the  canal  and  on  the  Wallabout  Basin,  where  piers 
are  maintained  by  the  New  York  Central,  Lehigh  Valley,  Baltimore  &  Ohio,  West 
Shore  and  Pennsylvania  Railroads.  The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  has  a 
terminal  and  yard  immediately  adjoining  the  market.  There  are  no  trackage  facilities 
in  the  market,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  sell  goods  from  the  cars.  Cars  that  are 
lightered  there  are  brought  into  the  slip  only  and  their  contents  must  be  trucked  into 
the  market.  If  there  were  track  connections  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  run  the 
cars  right  into  the  market,  and  one  intermediate  handling  would  be  saved.  There  is 
now  much  trucking  of  goods  over  from  New  York;  all  ihe  Florida  fruit  is  trucked 
over;  all  the  fresh  vegetables  coming  in  the  winter  time  on  the  Old  Dominion  Line 
are  trucked  over.  Wallabout  Basin  is  deep  enough  now  for  tugs  and  lighters,  but  will 
have  to  be  dredged  before  vessels  of  any  size  can  come  in. 

A  great  many  farmers  drive  in  to  Wallabout  Market  from  a  radius  of  40  miles 
around  New  York.  Each  wagon  pays  25  cents  a  day  for  space  in  the  open  market 
square.    The  highest  number  of  wagons  to  come  in  any  one  day  in  1912  was  445. 

There  is  no  fish  market  there  at  the  present  time  and  the  market  has  no  refrigerat- 
ing plant.  Cold  storage  is  supplied  by  an  outside  company  and  no  ice  is  used.  Sales 
in  the  market  are  entirely  private ;  there  are  no  auctions.  Wallabout  Market  is  a 
very  good  distributing  market  now  and  is  located  conveniently  for  the  dealers;  it 
could,  however,  be  greatly  improved  by  the  addition  of  railroad  tracks  and  a  refriger- 
ating plant,  so  that  goods  could  be  brought  into  the  market  without  change  of 
temperature  and  much  waste  saved. 

VIII.    PROPOSED  MARKET  SYSTEM  FOR  THE  CITY 

The  foregoing  analysis  of  present  conditions  should  make  clear  the  fact  that  the 
marketing  of  farm  products  in  this  city  to-day  is  a  problem  of  distribution  from 
transportation  terminals;  it  can  be  made  efficient  only  by  the  coordination  of  the 
collection,  transportation,  and  distribution  of  foodstuffs.  In  other  words,  we  must 
develop  the  type  of  market  here  that  will  make  for  the  quickest  receipt  and  disposal 
of  goods.  We  must  educate  shippers  to  the  advantages  and  needs  of  this  market  and 
the  methods  to  be  employed  by  them  to  ensure  quick  marketing  of  their  goods,  and 
the  buying  public  here  to  watch  market  conditions  so  that  they  may  buy  more 
intelligently  and  so  that  there  may  be  popular  demand  for  the  goods  that  are  plentiful. 
Only  a  market  which  distributes  foodstuffs  quickly  and  economically  will  encourage 
producers  to  ship  to  it. 

A  study  of  the  geography  of  the  city,  the  present  conditions  and  methods  of 
marketing,  i.  e.,  congestion  at  downtown  terminals,  inadequacy  of  present  terminals, 
amount  of  trucking  and  long  truck  hauls  necessary,  etc.,  the  difficulties  that  confront 
shippers,  and  the  forces  that  now  operate  to  keep  goods  from  reaching  our  market, 
points  to  the  conclusion  that  the  establishment  of  large  terminal  wholesale  markets 


23 


in  the  five  boroughs  of  the  city  is  the  first  essential  step  in  the  bettering  of  conditions. 
We  have  in  this  city  two  distinct  problems — the  problem  of  the  primary  or  wholesale 
marketing  of  the  goods  when  they  reach  the  city  in  large  unbroken  lots,  and  the 
problem  of  retail  distribution. 

Though  investigation  shows  the  largest  increase  in  prices  to  be  added  by  retailing, 
it  also  shows  that  the  greatest  hindrances  to  efficient  distribution  exist  in  the  wholesale 
marketing  of  the  food  products  received  here.  Part  of  the  high  cost  of  retailing  is 
due  to  the  quantity  and  kind  of  service  that  the  business  demands,  as  compared  with 
wholesaling,  and  part  is  due  to  a  lack  of  responsiveness  of  retail  markets  to  condi- 
tions of  supply,  because  of  the  chaotic  condition  of  the  present  wholesale  market. 
Producer  and  consumer  are  not  kept  far  apart  now  by  the  retailers  to  any  such 
degree  as  they  are  by  the  cumbersome  methods  of  wholesaling.  We  have  in  the  city 
a  large  number  of  small  grocery  and  provision  stores  which  serve  the  people  very 
well.  They  cater  to  the  needs  of  their  regular  customers  and  are  convenient  supply 
depots  for  apartment  house  dwellers  who  have  no  room  to  store  supplies  and  wish  to 
buy  often  and  nearby.  A  type  of  municipal  retail  market  that  can  compete  with 
these  neighborhood  stores  has  yet  to  be  developed. 

Consumers  as  a  class  are  intensely  conservative  and  slow  to  change  established 
habits.  If  they  are  used  to  marketing  in  a  certain  way  at  certain  kinds  of  stores,  they 
are  not  easily  induced  to  change.  It  would  be  useless  to  spend  public  moneys  on  a 
system  of  retail  municipal  markets,  the  success  of  which  would  depend  upon  a  con- 
siderable change  in  the  habits  of  the  buying  public  and  in  the  aims  of  marketmen. 
The  possibility  that  the  city  could  offer  space  in  its  retail  markets  to  dealers  at  lower 
rents  than  those  demanded  in  other  buildings  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  for 
that  reason  the  dealers  would  sell  goods  cheaply.  On  the  contrary,  their  low  rents, 
and  the  necessarily  higher  prices  outside,  would  give  them  a  chance  for  a  profit  which 
previous  experience  indicates  they  would  not  share  vi^illingly  with  the  public.  This 
condition  was  found  to  prevail  in  one  of  the  retail  markets  of  Berlin.  It  is  difficult 
to  see  how  it  could  be  avoided  in  a  public  retail  market  unless  the  city  itself,  through 
its  employees,  went  into  the  actual  buying  and  selling  of  food  in  the  markets,  or 
attempted  a  system  of  price  regulation — practices  whose  desirability  is  question- 
able. Retail  prices  will  be  lowered  when  all  are  given  facilities  for  buying  cheaply 
and  when  the  forces  of  demand  and  supply  are  given  free  play. 

Systems  of  municipal  retail  markets  have  not  been  a  success  where  tried  in  large 
cities  under  conditions  similar  to  our  own.  In  Berlin  12  markets  out  of  a  system 
of  14  have  been  abandoned.  They  have  been  gradually  given  up  and  the  buildings 
turned  over  to  other  uses.  The  same  thing  has  happened  in  Paris,  where  out  of 
an  original  system  of  33  only  half  are  now  in  operation.  Only  those  in  direct  con- 
nection with  the  terminal  markets  have  been  found  to  be  of  value.  The  case  of 
Jefferson  Market  in  New  York  is  typical  of  what  happens  here  and  elsewhere  with 
this  type  of  market.  The  trade  in  Fulton  and  Washington  Markets  is  becoming 
more  and  more  a  jobbing  trade  and  less  a  retail  trade — supplying  large  customers  like 
boarding-houses,  hotels,  and  restaurants.  The  most  flourishing  public  market  we  have 
now  is  West  Washington,  which  is  a  wholesale  market,  and,  in  a  way,  a  terminal 
market,  though  its  possibilities  as  such  in  the  way  of  waterfront  development  and 
railroad  connection  have  not  been  made  full  use  of.  As  it  is  it  pays  the  city  a  profit 
of  $34,000  annually  on  the  investment. 

Whatever  form  the  retail  distribution  here  eventually  takes — whether  it  be 
private  stores,  municipal  markets,  cooperative  stores,  or  what  not,  it  will  be  essential 
to  have  a  large,  well-organized  wholesale  market  in  each  borough.  That  is  the 
first  step.  The  type  of  retail  distributor  is  of  little  importance  if  it  has  difficulty  in 
getting  supplies. 

The  idea  of  wholesale  terminal  markets  is  not  new  outside  of  New  York;  it  is  not 


24 


new  in  New  York,  but  it  has  yet  to  be  recognized  and  applied  here  in  a  large  way. 
In  Berlin  they  have  had  a  wholesale  terminal  market  for  over  twenty  years,  the 
only  fault  being  that  it  is  not  now  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  trade  that  seeks 
it;  they  have  one  in  Munich,  in  Frankfort,  London,  and  other  cities  abroad. 
It  is  the  recognized  type  of  municipal  market  in  the  larger  cities  of  Germany,  where 
they  have  given  the  subject  close  study.  Its  effectiveness  lies  in  the  fact  that  such 
a  market  cuts  out  unnecessary  steps — it  does  not  introduce  radical  changes  in  busi- 
ness methods,  but  rather  gives  business  men  the  means  for  more  efficient  service.  It  is 
axiomatic  that  business  is  conservative  and  slow  to  change  its  methods  and  habits.  We 
recognize  the  futility  of  proposing  radical  changes  theoretically  alluring  or  untried 
methods  that  will  meet  with  distrust. 

The  lack  of  system  in  the  wholesale  marketing  here  to-day  is  a  handicap  to  efficient 
service  and  a  cause  of  great  expense.  This  expense  is  of  three  kinds :  one,  the 
actual  cost  added  to  the  goods  for  the  trucking  and  rehandling  necessary ;  two,  the  loss 
of  goods  deteriorated  through  exposure  to  harmful  temperatures  after  unloading 
from  the  cars  or  through  bruising  in  being  handled  many  times;  and,  three,  the  loss 
of  goods  kept  from  market  because  of  the  lack  of  facilities.  These  three  factors 
would  be  eliminated  in  proper  terminal  markets.  It  is  likely  also  that  in  time  the 
expense  and  loss  in  regrading  goods  would  be  reduced  as  the  market  management 
makes  known  throughout  the  producing  sections  the  methods  of  grading  and  marking 
most  advantageous  in  the  market. 

The  distribution  of  food  in  the  city  to-day,  as  has  been  shown,  takes  place  chiefly 
from  the  primary  market  in  lower  Manhattan.  While  it  is  true  that  in  most  places 
the  ideal  condition  is  to  have  the  wholesale  marketing  done  in  one  place,  where 
all  buyers  and  sellers  may  congregate,  and  that  a  division  of  the  wholesale  market 
results  in  a  loss  in  economy,  the  results  of  the  policy  of  concentration  that  confront 
us  to-day  in  New  York  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  greater  economy  will  be  effected 
in  this  city  by  a  division  of  the  primary  market  among  the  five  boroughs.  New  York 
City  is  divided  by  natural  waterways  and  political  lines  into  what  are  practically  live 
cities.  It  has  grown  too  large  to  depend  on  one  market,  and  the  trade  in  that  market 
has  grown  to  such  proportions  that  we  could  hardly  build  a  terminal  market  large 
enough  to  accommodate  it  without  congestion.  Even  if  we  could,  it  would  not 
do  away  with  the  necessity  of  having  jobbers'  markets  to  reach  out  to  the  retailers  in 
outlying  sections,  and  the  latter  would  be  brought  no  nearer  the  sources  of  supply. 
We  believe,  also,  that,  for  the  present  at  least,  the  number  of  such  markets  should 
be  restricted  to  one  for  each  borough,  so  that  each  may  be  assured  of  as  large  a 
supply  as  possible  and  may  attract  as  large  a  number  of  buyers  as  possible. 

These  wholesale  terminal  markets  should  be  what  their  name  implies — markets  on 
the  terminals  of  as  many  transit  lines  as  possible,  so  that  they  will  be  supplied  with 
a  full  range  of  commodities.  They  should  be  union  freight  terminals  with  modern 
marketing  facilities.  No  one  railroad  brings  a  great  enough  variety  of  products  to 
supply  a  market  with  all  lines.  They  should  have  sufficient  space  for  handling  cars 
from  different  lines  with  dispatch.  Refrigeration  should  be  provided  for  both 
temporary  and  long  storage,  and  there  should  be  refrigerated  rooms  into  which 
refrigerated  cars  could  discharge  their  contents  without  change  of  temperature  and 
consequent  injury  to  the  goods.  The  handling  of  produce  should  be  by  machinery  as 
far  as  possible.  Separate  parts  of  the  markets  should  be  devoted  to  the  sale  of 
different  products,  but  the  market  should  be  so  arranged  that  a  dealer  could  buy  his 
various  supplies  without  going  too  far.  Connected  with  each  market  should  be  a 
post  office,  bank,  telegraph  office,  public  telephone,  restaurant,  infirmary,  and  comfort 
station.  Of  course,  many  details  must  be  left  for  future  elaboration,  but  it  is  prob- 
able that  economy  will  be  effected  by  having  a  delivery  service  by  automobile  trucks 


25 


belonging  to  the  market.  Each  market  should  also  have  a  retail  department  and  a 
canning  and  preserving  plant. 

A  prominent  feature  of  nearly  all  foreign  municipal  wholesale  markets  is  the 
provision  for  sales  at  auction  of  all  goods  consigned  directly  to  the  market,  con- 
ducted by  bonded  auctioneers  licensed  by  the  city.  Such  sales  are  not  provided 
for  in  any  of  our  public  markets  at  present— there  are  no  markets  to  which  shippers 
can  now  consign  directly;  they  must  send  goods  to  individual  dealers.  The  auction 
method  is  now  used  here  in  disposing  of  California  fruits  and  some  few  other  prod- 
ucts, and  has  recently  been  introduced  into  the  live  poultry  trade. 

The  terminal  markets  should  be  self-supporting,  the  rents  charged  being  sufficient 
to  pay  interest  on  the  money  invested  and  a  sinking  fund,  and  to  cover  the  loss  on  the 
property  by  exemption  from  taxation.  The  markets  should  not  be  operated  with  the 
purpose  of  making  them  a  source  of  revenue  to  the  city,  but  every  effort  should 
be  made  to  have  them  operated  in  such  a  way  that  the  costs  of  distribution  shall  be 
minimized  and  prices  kept  at  normal  levels. 

A  system  cannot  hold  together  or  work  for  a  definite  purpose  unless  it  is  or- 
ganized and  its  control  vested  in  a  competent  executive  body.  Too  many  city  depart- 
ments now  have  authority  over  the  markets.  Their  powers  should  be  vested  in  one 
Department  of  Markets,  to  be  created  by  amendment  of  the  Charter.  The  control  is 
now  so  split  up  that  (1)  the  Board  of  Aldermen  has  charge  of  the  selection  of  sites; 
(2)  the  Borough  President  has  charge  of  maintenance;  (3)  the  Department  of 
Finance  collects  the  rents;  (4)  the  Department  of  Health  has  charge  of  the  sanitary 
conditions  of  the  markets  and  the  inspection  of  food;  (5)  the  Fire  Department  takes 
measures  for  protection  from  fire;  (6)  the  Police  Department  makes  traffic  regula- 
tions, etc.;  (7)  the  Bureau  of  Weights  and  Measures  has  its  authority;  and  (8) 
the  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries  collects  dock  rents  where  markets  are  on  the 
water  front.  These  functions  should  be  centered  in  one  Department,  which  should 
exercise  supervision  over  the  entire  marketing  system  of  the  city.  It  should  keep  a 
record  of  all  goods  received  and  sold  at  the  markets,  maintain  a  system  of  inspection 
of  foodstuffs,  issue  bulletins  of  supplies  received  and  market  prices,  establish  standard 
requirements  for  packing  and  grading,  etc. 

The  executive  functions  of  such  a  Department  of  Markets  should  be  vested  in  a 
Board  of  Market  Commissioners,  one  from  each  borough,  to  be  appointed  by  the 
Borough  President,  to  serve  for  a  term  of  years  or  during  good  behavior,  such 
Board  to  choose  its  own  chairman.  Such  Market  Commissioners,  as  well  as  the 
market  auctioneers,  should  be  forbidden  to  have  any  personal  interest  in  the  business 
done  in  the  markets. 

There  are  within  a  radius  of  a  few  hundred  miles  of  New  York  many  small 
farmers  on  whom  present  conditions  are  a  heavy  burden.  On  their  farms  quantities^ 
of  foodstuffs  go  to  waste  every  year  because  the  cost  of  getting  them  to  market 
is  too  great.  From  some  places  distant  for  passengers  only  two  hours  from  New 
York  it  takes  from  ten  days  to  two  weeks  to  get  freight  here.  This  is  too  long  a 
time  for  perishable  products  and  there  is  no  advantage  in  sending  by  express  as  the 
rates  are  too  high.  In  many  cases,  too,  the  farmer  does  not  know  a  reliable  dealer  to 
whom  to  ship.  The  terminal  markets  with  their  auction  sales  will  open  the  way  for 
these  goods  to  reach  the  city.  As  soon  as  they  are  in  operation  it  will  be  possible 
for  the  railroads  that  reach  out  through  the  nearby  territory  to  run  daily  produce 
trains  as  they  now  run  milk  trains,  to  which  farmers  may  take  produce  in  any 
quantities  to  be  sold  in  the  markets  at  auction,  or  otherwise,  as  desired.  They  can- 
not do  this  now  as  there  are  no  means  of  disposing  of  the  goods  when  they  reach 
the  city,  unless  they  are  consigned  to  dealers. 

Your  Commission  has  prepared  plans  for  such  a  market  as  has  been  described,  to 
be  constructed  in  the  Borough  of  The  Bronx,  based  on  carefully  computed  estimates 


26 


of  present  and  future  consumption  in  the  territory  such  a  market  will  serve.  (For 
detailed  description,  see  Appendix.)  This  market  will  cover  28  acres  and  will  cost, 
with  the  land,  in  the  neighborhood  of  $10,000,000.  At  an  average  annual  rental  of  35 
cents  per  square  foot  of  rentable  space,  it  will  return  seven  per  cent,  on  the  invest- 
ment— more  than  sufficient  to  pay  all  the  charges  of  the  undertaking.  Rental  rates  in 
present  public  and  private  markets  are  much  higher  and  the  facilities  offered  much 
less.  The  plans  include  a  freight  yard  with  ample  unloading  platforms ;  broad  drive- 
ways for  trucks,  so  arranged  that  incoming  and  outgoing  traffic  will  not  conflict; 
selling  and  storage  space ;  auction  rooms ;  power  house ;  retail  market ;  and  ample 
waterfront  facilities. 

IX.  RECOMMENDATIONS 

Your  Commission  recommends  the  establishment  of  a  wholesale  terminal  market  in 
each  of  the  boroughs  of  the  city  as  follows : 

Manhattan 

In  the  neighborhood  of  West  Washington  and  Gansevoort  Markets.  It  will  be 
necessary  to  plan  this  market  so  that  the  railroads  coming  to  New  York  can  co- 
ordinate to  run  their  cars  into  it  and  have  their  freight  handled  with  celerity.  The 
plan  proposed  for  the  West  Side  Terminal  Improvement,  although  mainly  devoted  to 
the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad,  includes  a  reservation  by  the 
City  of  tracks  for  other  railroads  as  well.  It  might  be  that,  if  the  location  of  the 
Manhattan  wholesale  market  were  to  be  made  for  the  first  time,  a  site  further  north 
in  the  neighborhood  of  50th  Street  would  be  selected,  but  trade  is  very  reluctant  to 
move,  and  the  fact  that  the  banks,  cold  storage  warehouses,  and  present  business 
of  the  trade  are  located  in  this  neighborhood  makes  the  plan  to  take  the  market  away 
from  this  location  impractical.  Besides  that,  outgoing  steamers  and  trains  must  be 
supplied  and  the  erection  of  high  buildings  in  the  lower  end  of  Manhattan  containing 
a  very  large  population,  which  must  be  fed  at  least  once  a  day,  makes  it  desirable 
that  a  market  should  be  located  in  their  vicinity.  The  plan  suggested  by  the  Ganse- 
voort Market  Business  Men's  Association  and  others  seems  a  good  one,  but  it  was 
based  on  the  idea  that  the  present  West  Washington  Market  was  to  be  taken  for 
steamship  piers.  Under  the  law  it  was  the  duty  of  the  City  to  provide  another  market 
site  in  the  Ninth  Ward  of  the  City  of  New  York.  If  the  plan  to  take  West  Wash- 
ington Market  for  steamship  piers  is  abandoned,  the  present  West  Washington  and 
Gansevoort  Market  sites  could  be  combined  and,  with  some  additional  property, 
make  an  excellent  site  for  a  new  market  at  small  expense.  It  should  be  decided  at 
once  which  of  these  plans  is  to  be  adopted.  The  need  of  the  market  is  very  pressing 
and  work  should  be  begun  upon  one  or  the  other  plan  at  once. 

Brooklyn 

Brooklyn  has  a  most  excellent  market  in  Wallabout  Market.  It  has  36  acres 
of  land  and  is  located  on  the  waterfront.  At  present  carfloat  connections  bring 
loaded  freight  cars  to  it,  but  there  are  no  trackage  facilities  to  take  them  into  it. 
Possibly  in  the  future  it  will  have  direct  rail  communication  by  land.  Broad  streets 
lead  from  it  and  it  is  within  easy  distance  by  automobile  truck  of  any  part  of  the 
borough.  At  comparatively  small  expense  the  improvements  necessary  to  make  a 
modern  market  could  be  made — namely,  to  dredge  out  the  Wallabout  Basin  so  that 
loaded  vessels  of  size  could  come  into  it,  to  erect  a  cold  storage  plant  sufficient  for 
the  needs  of  the  market,  to  lay  railroad  tracks  on  Clinton  Avenue  so  that  loaded  cars 


27 


may  be  run  directly  into  the  market,  increasing  its  freight  capacity  and  eliminating 
the  trucking  of  goods  from  dock  to  store,  and  to  construct  a  retail  annex.  Your 
Commission  recommends  that  these  improvements  be  made. 

Greknpoint  or  Long  Island  City 

A  site  for  a  market  has  been  urged  by  the  Greenpoint  Taxpayers  and  Citizens' 
Association  at  Greenpoint,  near  the  proposed  Barge  Terminal.  The  plot  is  nine  acres 
in  size.  At  present  it  would  have  to  depend  upon  carfloat  connections  for  supplies 
brought  by  rail,  but  that  might  be  remedied  by  a  marginal  railroad  if  a  market  were 
located  there.  The  question  of  whether  a  market  in  that  neighborhood  should  be 
located  at  Greenpoint  or  in  Long  Island  City  must  be  determined  by  the  local  authori- 
ties. A  market  in  Long  Island  City  would  have  the  benefit  of  direct  rail  connections 
with  the  Pennsylvania-Long  Island  railroad  system  and  the  New  Haven  Railroad 
over  the  Hell  Gate  Bridge  and  the  New  York  Connecting  Railway.  For  that  reason 
your  Commission  recommends  the  choice  of  a  site  in  Long  Island  City,  but  thinks  that 
the  local  authorities  of  both  places  should  be  consulted  in  the  matter. 

The  Bronx 

Your  Commission  begs  leave  to  submit  plans  for  a  market  in  The  Bronx,  which  it 
has  prepared  to  serve  as  a  model  for  markets  throughout  the  city.  It  is  recognized  that 
each  market  must  be  modified  in  form  to  meet  existing  conditions,  but  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  coordination  of  railroad  and  waterfront  facilities  will  obtain  for  all  the 
markets. 

The  market  is  planned  to  cover  28  acres  of  ground.  It  will  cost,  for  the  land, 
about  $2,000,000,  and,  for  the  buildings,  about  $7,850,000.  It  is  estimated  that  at  a 
rental  of  35  cents  per  square  foot  of  rentable  space  it  will  return  7  per  cent,  on 
the  investment.  It  will  serve  the  population  of  Harlem  from  110th  Street  north — 
with  about  800,000  people;  The  Bronx,  with  about  600,000  people;  and  New  Rochelle, 
Mt.  Vernon,  and  Yonkers. 

Your  Commission  recommends  that  steps  be  taken  at  once  toward  the  construction 
of  this  market. 

Richmond 

A  site  in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  George,  Staten  Island,  is  recommended  for  the 
Richmond  market.  A  great  deal  of  the  produce  consumed  in  the  Borough  of  Rich- 
mond is  grown  there  during  certain  period  of  the  year  and  could  be  collected  and 
sold  in  the  market.  It  has  good  railroad  facilities,  which  are  likely  to  be  improved 
in  the  future. 

Department  of  Markets 

Your  Commission  recommends  that  a  new  Department  of  Markets  of  the  City 
be  created  to  supervise  the  food  distribution  in  the  city;  that  the  control  of  such 
Department  be  vested  in  a  Board  of  five  Market  Commissioners,  one  for  each  Bor- 
ough, to  be  appointed  by  the  Borough  Presidents,  such  Board  to  choose  its  own 
chairman;  that  the  jurisdiction  over  the  city's  markets  now  vested  in  other  depart- 
ments be  centered  in  the  new  Department  of  Markets. 

Auction  Sales 

It  is  recommended  that  sales  at  auction  be  made  permissive  in  the  several  public 
markets.  They  should  be  conducted  by  bonded  auctioneers,  licensed  by  the  city,  to 
whom  goods  could  be  consigned  by  persons  who  desired  to  sell  their  goods  at  auction. 


28 


It  is  not  supposed  that  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  goods  coming  to  the  market 
would  be  sold  in  this  way,  because  many  shippers  would  prefer  to  do  business  through 
private  dealers,  but  the  fact  that  such  sales  could  be  made  would  tend  to  steady 
prices ;  such  auction  sales  would  also  serve  to  fix  the  market  prices  for  each  day.  It 
is  recognized  that  the  great  bulk  of  certain  kinds  of  perishable  goods  must  be  sold 
within  a  few  hours  after  the  opening  of  the  market,  and  that  it  would  not  be  feasible 
to  auction  them  all  off  in  sufficiently  small  quantities.  The  existence  of  the  auctioneers, 
however,  would  make  it  possible  for  the  grower  who  had  no  private  consignee  to 
send  his  goods  to  the  market  and  have  them  sold  by  the  public  auctioneer. 


It 


t< 


I 


T.   EXISTING  STEAMSHIP  AND  RAILROAD  TERMINALS  IN  THE  CITY 

OF  NEW  YORK 


By 

W.  G.  Rainsford 
Assistant  Superintendent  of  Docks 

I  have  interviewed  a  number  of  the  agents  and  managers  of  the  larger  railroad  and 
steamship  companies  operating  on  the  New  York  water  front,  with  a  view  of  securing 
from  them  such  information  as  they  had  at  hand  relating  to  the  importation  of  food 
supplies  into  the  City  of  New  York  and  the  methods  employed  by  them  in  transferring 
these  food  supplies  from  the  piers  and  warehouses  to  the  wholesale  dealers  or 
consignees. 

The  railroad  and  steamship  companies,  being  common  carriers,  have  no  interest 
in  the  commodities  they  handle  except  to  deliver  the  goods  safely  at  the  stations 
called  for  by  the  bill  of  lading,  receiving  therefor  the  tariff  rate  fixed  by  the  Trunk 
Line  Association  from  stated  points  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  this  rate  allowing  for 
storage  on  the  various  docks  of  the  railroads,  varying  from  twenty-four  hours  for 
perishable  freight  to  three  days  (exclusive  of  the  day  of  arrival)  on  canned  goods  and 
other  package  freight,  after  which  time,  if  the  space  be  required  for  incoming  freight 
and  after  advice  to  the  consignee,  the  goods  are  rode  to  storage  at  the  expense  of 
the  consignee.  On  carload  lots  the  railroad  company  is  compelled  by  law  to  keep 
the  shipments  in  storage  at  Jersey  City  for  a  period  of  ten  days,  and,  if  required  by 
the  consignee,  to  deliver  same  by  lighter  to  any  point  within  lighterage  limits  of  the 
greater  city  without  additional  compensation. 

All  food  stuffs  and  other  commodities  are  removed  from  the  piers  and  warehouses 
of  the  railroad  and  steamship  companies  by  drays,  some  of  the  large  wholesale 
grocers  and  provision  dealers  using  their  own  teams  for  this  purpose,  while  a  consider- 
able number  hire  outsiders  to  do  this  work,  the  usual  rate  for  a  double  team  being 
$8.00  per  day,  or  60  cents  per  ton  when  taken  by  weight. 

While  the  cost  of  nearly  all  food  stuffs  has  advanced  enormously  during  the 
last  ten  years,  I  do  not  find  that  the  freight  rates  have  correspondingly  increased 
during  the  same  period,  the  rates  in  many  instances  being  the  same  and  in  some 
cases  less,  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  rigorous  supervision  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  and  to  competition. 

The  steamship  companies,  while  not  coming  under  the  supervision  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission,  have  to  meet  the  established  rates  of  the  railroads 
or  do  a  little  better  to  get  a  fair  share  of  the  business,  the  cost  for  handling  being 
about  the  same  in  both  cases.  Outside  of  perishable  freight,  the  steamship  companies 
handling  domestic  products  allow,  on  the  average,  five  days  for  the  removal  of  cargo, 
the  goods  being  left  there  entirely  at  the  risk  of  the  consignee. 

The  section  of  the  water  front  known  as  the  Vegetable  Market  includes  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  pier  No.  22,  foot  of  Jay  street;  Old  Dominion  piers  Nos.  25  and  26, 
between  North  Moore  and  Beach  streets,  N.  R. ;  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  piers 


30 


Nos.  27  to  29,  between  Hubert  and  Desbrosses  streets ;  the  Clyde  Steamship  piers  Nos. 
35  and  36,  at  Spring  and  Charlton  Streets,  respectively;  the  Mallory  Steamship  pier 
No.  38,  at  the  foot  of  King  street,  N.  R.,  and  Pier  No.  47  and  sheds  adjoining,  under 
permit  to  the  Quebec  Steamship  Company,  at  the  foot  of  Perry  street,  N.  R. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  (March  to  July,  inclusive),  between  the  hours  of  1  and 
10  A.  M.,  this  whole  area  is  devoted  almost  entirely  to  the  handling  and  disposition 
of  green  vegetables  and  fruit.  These  commodities  are  sent  over  the  river  on  floats 
from  the  Jersey  terminals  and  transferred  from  the  cars  to  the  several  spaces  on 
the  pier  bulkhead  assigned  by  the  railroad  company  to  the  dealer  for  the  sale  and 
disposition  of  his  products.  The  Old  Dominion  Steamship  Company  regulates  the 
arrival  of  its  steamers  to  agree  with  the  unloading  time  of  the  railroads,  and  assigns 
similar  spaces  on  its  piers  to  the  commission  merchant  for  the  disposal  of  his  mer- 
chandise. A  joint  market  for  green  vegetables  is  thus  established  on  the  piers  and 
bulkheads  above  referred  to,  the  opening  hour  of  the  market  being  1  a.  m.,  in  the  busy 
season.  All  of  the  green  vegetables  are  shipped  to  New  York  in  crates,  baskets,  or 
barrels.  For  such  green  vegetables  as  are  not  crated,  storage  yards  and  unloading 
platforms  are  provided  by  the  railroads  on  the  upland  from  Twenty-sixth  Street  to 
Thirty-seventh  Street,  inclusive,  where  produce  in  carload  lots  is  unloaded. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  averages  each  month  about  35,000  tons  of 
green  vegetables  and  fruit,  besides  3,000  tons  of  butter,  3,000  tons  of  eggs  in  cases, 
600  tons  of  dressed  poultry,  2,900  tons  of  canned  goods,  165  tons  of  cereals,  and  414 
tons  of  flour,  from  March  to  July,  inclusive,  at  its  station  No.  29,  above  referred  to. 
This  railroad  also  has  other  piers  where  all  classes  of  foodstuffs  are  received,  except 
green  vegetables,  namely,  Old  Piers  Nos.  1,  4,  and  5,  between  Battery  Place  and  Mor- 
ris Street;  Piers  77  and  78,  at  the  foot  of  Thirty-seventh  and  Thirty-eighth  Streets, 
N.  R.,  as  well  as  a  long  bulkhead  north  of  125th  Street,  E.  R.,  and  Pier  No.  2  and 
bulkheads  adjoining  the  Wallabout  district,  Brooklyn. 

The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  operating  through  the  same  section  of  the  country, 
also  brings  in  large  quantities  of  green  vegetables  to  New  York,  its  market  being 
located  on  Pier  No.  22,  at  the  foot  of  Jay  Street,  N.  R.  This  railroad  also  handles 
large  quantities  of  dairy  products,  considerable  canned  goods,  some  cereals,  and  a 
quantity  of  flour.  Other  stations  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  are  located  at  Pier  No. 
7,  N.  R.,  foot  of  Rector  Street,  and  on  the  south  side  of  Pier  66,  N.  R.,  foot  of 
Twenty-sixth  Street,  where  all  classes  of  foodstuffs  are  handled  except  green  vege- 
tables. 

The  greatest  carrier' of  green  vegetables  and  fruit  by  boat  from  the  south  is  the 
Old  Dominion  Steamship  Company,  occupying  the  piers  and  bulkheads  known  as 
Nos.  25  and  26,  located  at  the  foot  of  North  Moore  Street  and  Beach  Street,  re- 
spectively. This  company  brings  to  the  city  daily  large  consignments  of  peas,  beans, 
cauliflower,  kale,  spinach,  onions,  cabbage,  and  strawberries.  During  the  busy  season 
two  steamers  run  daily  between  New  York  and  Newport  News,  Va. 

The  Clyde  Line,  operating  between  New  York,  Qiarleston,  and  Jacksonville,  also 
brings  to  this  market  a  limited  amount  of  green  vegetables,  as  well  as  large  quantities 
of  watermelons  and  other  fruits,  discharging  same  at  its  piers,  Nos.  36  and  37,  N.  R., 
at  the  foot  of  Spring  and  Vandam  Streets,  respectively. 

The  Mallory  Line,  located  at  Pier  No.  38,  N.  R.,  foot  of  King  Street,  plying  be- 
tween Galveston  and  New  York,  brings  to  this  market  large  quantities  of  Texas  onions, 
some  rice,  and  considerable  other  food  stuffs. 

The  Quebec  Steamship  Company,  located  at  Pier  No.  47,  N.  R.,  foot  of  Perry 
Street,  operates  between  New  York  and  points  in  Bermuda,  and  brings  into  this 
market  large  quantities  of  celery,  potatoes,  kale,  spinach,  and  other  green  vegetables, 
same  disposition  being  made  of  the  products  as  in  the  case  of  the  railroads  and  other 
steamship  companies. 


31 


Owing  to  the  shortness  of  the  crop  of  potatoes  from  Maine  and  other  domestic 
centers,  large  quantities  of  potatoes  are  being  imported  from  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
The  Atlantic  Transport  Company,  at  Pier  58,  foot  of  West  Seventeenth  Street,  and 
the  Anchor  Line,  at  Pier  64,  foot  of  West  Twenty-fourth  Street,  have  been  bringing 
to  this  country  since  last  November  thousands  of  bags  of  potatoes,  in  many  cases 
the  entire  cargo  of  these  vessels  consisting  entirely  of  potatoes.  The  same  process 
is  observed  in  the  handling  of  these  potatoes  as  at  the  other  water  front  markets, 
i.  e.,  certain  spaces  are  allotted  to  the  commission  merchants  on  the  pier  for  the 
distribution  and  sale  of  the  products. 

The  City  of  New  York  has  also  established  certain  markets  for  green  vegetables 
in  close  proximity  to  the  water  front,  where  the  Long  Island  farmers  can  drive  to 
College  Point  and  Astoria  and  reach  the  metropolis  by  ferry.  One  of  these  markets 
is  located  at  103d  Street,  east  of  First  Avenue ;  another  in  The  Bronx,  at  East  132d 
Street,  Port  Morris;  a  third  at  Gansevoort  Street,  North  River,  and  a  very  large 
market  in  the  Wallabout  District,  Brooklyn.  Most  of  the  produce  is  disposed  of  to 
the  commission  merchants  and  small  dealers  in  green  vegetables  in  the  different 
localities  above  mentioned. 

Since  food  stuffs  of  one  kind  or  another  are  handled  at  about  90  per  cent,  of  all 
the  piers  in  Greater  New  York,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  them  all  in  detail,  but 
confine  myself  to  the  most  prominent  handlers  of  this  commodity. 

The  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  Railroad,  through  its  hay  shed  at  Thirty- 
third  Street,  North  River,  handles  the  largest  amount  of  hay  coming  into  the  New 
York  market,  its  receipts  for  1911  being  approximately  132,000  tons.  In  addition  to 
this,  including  its  leased  lines,  the  West  Shore  Railroad,  it  brings  into  the  city  large 
quantities  of  milk,  dairy  products,  fresh  meat,  poultry,  apples,  flour,  grain,  and  other 
food  stuffs.  This  railroad,  being  wholly  within  the  State  of  New  York,  is  not  subject 
to  the  regulations  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission ;  but,  since  the  West  Shore 
Railroad  is  subject  to  these  regulations,  it  conforms  voluntarily  with  the  tariff  regu- 
lations of  the  other  trunk  lines.  The  principal  receiving  and  delivery  stations  are 
located  as  follows:  Piers  16  and  17,  N.  R.,  foot  of  Barclay  Street  and  Park  Place, 
respectively;  Pier  23,  West  Shore  Railroad,  foot  of  Franklin  Street;  Pier  31,  foot 
of  Watts  Street,  N.  R. ;  Piers  71  and  72,  at  the  foot  of  West  Thirty-first  and  Thirty- 
third  Streets,  respectively,  and  Pier  34,  E.  R.,  foot  of  Rutgers  Street.  At  all  these 
different  stations  large  quantities  of  food  stuffs  are  received. 

The  Erie  Railroad,  in  addition  to  being  the  second  largest  handler  of  hay  in  this 
city  (108,000  tons  in  1911),  carries  95  per  cent,  of  all  the  citrus  and  deciduous  fruits 
coming  from  California  to  the  New  York  market,  having  special  facilities  for  handling 
the  business  on  its  Pier  No.  20,  N.  R.,  located  at  the  foot  of  Chambers  Street.  It 
also  brings  to  the  New  York  market  practically  all  of  the  higher  grade  of  melons 
from  California  and  Colorado,  as  well  as  all  the  choice  apples  in  boxes  from  Oregon 
and  Washington.  All  this  fruit  is  shipped  to  New  York  in  cars  especially  built  for 
this  service.  Pier  No.  20,  N.  R.,  is  considered  the  market  for  CaHfornia  fruits,  the 
railroad  paying  particular  attention  to  the  care  of  the  fruit  while  in  transit  and  when 
unloaded.  The  pier  has  a  concrete  floor  and  is  fitted  with  a  heating  apparatus  with 
a  blower  attachment,  thus  giving  an  even  temperature  throughout  the  pier,  which  is 
absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  keep  the  fruit  from  freezing  in  cold  weather.  The 
interior  of  the  pier  is  laid  out  in  alphabetical  sections,  each  section  representing  a 
certain  grade  of  fruit,  and  each  grade  of  fruit  in  the  catalogue  corresponds  with  the 
fruit  in  that  particular  section  of  the  pier.  All  of  this  fruit  is  auctioned  off  each  day 
by  the  auctioneer,  in  a  commodious  room  provided  by  the  railroad  for  this  purpose, 
the  shipments  being  promptly  removed  during  the  day  by  the  purchasers.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  California  fruit,  the  Erie  Railroad  is  a  large  carrier  of  milk,  dairy  prod- 
ucts, and  a  considerable  quantity  of  onions  and  canned  goods,  as  well  as  considerable 


32 


meat  and  poultry.  This  railroad  has  large  receiving  stations  at  Piers  Nos.  20  and  21, 
N.  R.,  foot  of  Chambers  Street;  bulkhead  shed,  on  the  north  side  of  Pier  67,  N.  R., 
foot  of  Twenty-seventh  Street ;  a  pier  at  Forty-ninth  Street,  N.  R.,  which  it  holds 
under  permit ;  New  Pier  No.  7,  foot  of  Coenties  Slip,  E.  R.,  and  a  large  terminal  at 
the  bulkhead  in  Wallabout  Basin,  Brooklyn. 

The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  is  the  largest  carrier  of  flour  into  the  City  of  New 
York.  In  addition  to  its  receiving  stations  on  Piers  2  and  3,  foot  of  Morris  Street, 
it  has  other  receiving  stations  at  Pier  34,  foot  of  Canal  Street,  N.  R. ;  Pier  44,  foot 
of  Christopher  Street,  and  Pier  66,  foot  of  West  Twenty-sixth  Street,  N.  R. ;  a  bulk- 
head running  through  from  Forty-third  to  Forty-fourth  Streets,  E.  R.,  and  one  at 
East  124th  Street,  H.  R.;  a  bulkhead  at  146th  to  149th  Streets,  H.  R.,  and  the  south 
side  of  Pier  4,  in  the  Wallabout,  Brooklyn.  The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  also  con- 
trols five  large  storage  warehouses  at  Communipaw,  N.  J.,  where  great  quantities  of 
flour  and  other  food  stuffs  are  kept  in  storage  until  wanted.  Besides  being  the 
largest  carrier  of  flour  into  New  York,  this  railroad  handles  considerable  quantities 
of  milk,  dairy  products,  potatoes,  onions,  and  cereals,  as  well  as  a  large  amount  of 
canned  goods,  apples,  and  other  fruits. 

The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad  brings  to  New  York  over  its 
lines  large  quantities  of  milk  and  dairy  products,  fresh  beef,  dressed  poultry,  apples, 
potatoes,  and  all  other  classes  of  food  stuffs,  its  principal  station  being  located  at 
Pier  13,  N.  R.,  foot  of  Fulton  Street;  Pier  41  and  bulkhead,  foot  of  Leroy  Street, 
N.  R. ;  Pier  68,  foot  of  West  Twenty-eighth  Street,  and  Pier  New  No.  26,  foot  of 
Catherine  Street,  E.  R.,  with  a  large  terminal  on  the  north  side  of  the  Wallabout 
Canal,  Brooklyn. 

The  Central  Vermont  Railway  receives  by  boat  at  its  Pier  29,  foot  of  Market 
Street,  E.  R.,  about  19,000  tons  of  hay  annually,  39,000  tons  of  condensed  milk,  3,000 
tons  of  flour,  and  about  200  tons  of  maple  sugar  and  syrup. 

The  Long  Island  Railroad,  at  its  Piers  Nos.  22  to  25,  foot  of  James  Slip,  E.  R., 
handles  large  quantities  of  green  vegetables  and  food  stuffs  from  Long  Island. 

The  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  brings  to  the  New  York  market 
large  quantities  of  fish,  both  fresh  and  canned,  some  canned  vegetables  and  a  large 
quantity  of  potatoes,  which  are  delivered  at  the  potato  house  of  the  Harlem  River 
terminal  and  disposed  of  by  the  consignee.  Besides  the  Willis  Avenue  terminal,  this 
railroad  has  a  number  of  receiving  stations  along  the  East  River,  among  them  being 
Old  Pier  No.  45,  at  Jefferson  Street,  West;  New  Nos.  38  and  39,  foot  of  Mont- 
gomery Street,  and  Piers  40  and  41,  with  bulkhead  sheds,  foot  of  Gouverneur  Street. 

The  New  York,  Ontario  &  Western  Railroad,  occupying  jointly  with  the  West 
Shore  Railroad  Pier  23,  at  the  foot  of  Harrison  Street,  North  River,  is  the  largest 
carrier  of  fluid  milk  and  condensed  milk  to  the  New  York  market.  This  railroad 
runs  through  the  most  fertile  part  of  New  York  and  the  very  large  farming  section. 
The  milk  is  brought  to  New  York  in  refrigerator  cars  and  unloaded  at  the  several 
milk  platforms  of  the  different  railroads  in  Jersey  City.  The  New  York  Central  & 
Hudson  River  Railroad  is  the  only  railroad  having  its  milk  platform  in  New  York 
City,  one  being  located  at  Melrose  Junction  and  another  at  Thirtieth  Street,  N.  R. 
The  New  York,  Ontario  &  Western  Railroad  also  brings  to  the  city  large  quantities 
of  dairy  products  and  a  considerable  amount  of  canned  fruits  and  vegetables  and 
large  quantities  of  apples  in  season. 

Fifty- five  per  cent,  of  all  the  cattle  coming  to  this  city  is  brought  in  by  the  dif- 
ferent railroads  on  the  hoof  and  transferred  from  the  stock  yards  to  the  several 
abattoirs  in  the  city  as  required.  The  principal  abattoirs  in  New  York  City  are  located 
between  Thirty-eighth  and  Fortieth  Streets  on  the  North  River,  and  from  Forty- 
third  to  Forty-fifth  Streets  on  the  East  River.  The  New  York  Butchers'  Dressed 
Meat  Company  uses  300  feet  of  the  north  side  of  Pier  79,  foot  of  Thirty-ninth  Street, 


33 


N.  R.,  as  a  runway  for  the  unloading  of  beeves,  sheep,  and  pigs,  and  the  New  York 
Stock  Yards  Company  has  a  similar  location  on  the  northerly  side  of  Pier  80,  foot 
of  Fortieth  Street,  N.  R.,  for  the  same  purpose.  An  unloading  station  at  the  foot 
of  East  Forty-third  and  Forty-fourth  Streets,  E.  R.,  is  established  for  the  unloading 
of  cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs  entering  the  immense  slaughtering  establishments  of  the 
United  Dressed  Beef  Company  and  Sulzberger  Sons  Company,  at  Forty-third  and 
Forty-fourth  Streets  and  First  Avenue. 

Two  other  important  articles  of  food  are  received  on  the  water  front,  for  which 
provision  is  made  by  the  Commissioner  of  Docks,  namely,  oysters  and  fresh  fish. 

The  basins  on  the  North  River  between  piers  known  as  Gansevoort  South,  Ganse- 
voort  Middle,  and  Gansevoort  North  have  been  set  aside  for  the  convenience  of  the 
merchants  engaged  in  the  oyster  business.  In  these  basins  a  number  of  oyster  houses 
on  floats  are  located,  where  during  the  oyster  season  as  much  as  70  tons  of  oysters 
are  received  daily.  The  oysters  are  brought  to  these  oyster  houses  or  depots  in 
sloops  and  the  oysters  are  transferred  to  the  oyster  houses  and  opened  and  placed 
in  sealed  cans  and  distributed  to  the  retail  dealers.  A  considerable  quantity  of  this 
food  stuff,  however,  is  placed  in  sealed  cans,  iced  and  boxed,  and  shipped  to  cities 
inland,  some  of  these  oysters  going  as  far  west  as  Chicago. 

The  other  food  commodity  received  in  large  quantities  on  the  New  York  water 
front  is  fresh  fish.  The  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries  has  set  aside  Piers  17  and 
18  on  the  East  River,  at  the  foot  of  Fulton  Street,  for  the  convenience  of  the  whole- 
sale fish  merchants.  Commodious  markets  are  established  on  the  bulkheads  adjoin- 
ing, the  one  at  Pier  17  covering  the  pier  and  half  the  bulkhead  east,  being  leased  to 
the  Fulton  Market  Fishmongers'  Association,  while  the  Independent  Wholesale  Fish 
Dealers'  Association  occupies  the  balance  of  this  space  and  Pier  18  for  the  handling 
and  disposition  of  its  products.  Upward  of  3,000  tons  of  fresh  fish  is  handled  each 
month  at  these  two  markets. 

Ice  is  another  necessity  that  must  be  considered  in  connection  with  food  supplies. 
The  Commissioner  of  Docks  locates  ice  bridges  and  platforms  along  the  water  front 
of  the  city  as  necessity  requires.  Some  of  the  principal  ice  dealers  are  the  Knicker- 
bocker Ice  Company,  Foster-Scott  Ice  Company,  National  Ice  Company,  the  Mer- 
chants' Union  Ice  Company,  and  Fiasco  Ice  Company. 


STEAMSHIP  LINES 

Southern  Pacific  Steamship  Company 
Piers  48  to  51,  N.  R.,  Perry  to  Bethune  Streets 

This  company  operates  between  New  York,  Galveston,  and  New  Orleans,  and 
brings  to  New  York  large  quantities  of  molasses,  rice,  flour,  onions,  dried  and  canned 
fruits,  peas,  and  beans.  The  sugar  goes  direct  to  the  refineries  or  is  lightered  there 
from  the  vessel's  side,  none  going  into  the  warehouses. 

Panama  Steamship  Company 
Pier  52,  Foot  of  Gansevoort  Street 

Operated  by  the  Ishmian  Canal  Commission  in  connection  with  the  Panama  Rail- 
road, and  plying  between  New  York  and  Colon.  This  line  is  a  large  carrier  of  dried 
fruits  and  food  stuffs  from  California  and  other  points  on  the  Pacific  Coast  and 
from  Central  American  ports,  bringing  from  California  large  quantities  of  barley, 
beans,  canned  vegetables,  and  fruits,  herbs,  raisins,  canned  salmon,  almonds  and  wal- 
nuts from  South  America,  cocoanuts,  coffee,  cocoa,  and  sugar.    The  sugar,  if  in  bulk, 


34 


is  consigned  direct  to  the  refineries  at  Yonkers  and  at  Brooklyn.  The  freight  rate 
includes  the  unloading  and  placing  of  the  commodity  on  the  refinery  floor.  This  line 
also  carries  all  the  Government  employees  to  the  Panama  Canal. 

CuNARD  Line 

Piers  53,  54,  and  56,  N.  R.,  West  Twelfth  to  Fourteenth  Streets 

Operating  between  New  York,  Fishguard,  and  Queenstown.  This  line  brings  to 
the  New  York  market  large  quantities  of  ales,  porters,  canned  goods  of  all  kinds, 
malt  and  malt  extracts,  tapioca  flour,  olive  oil,  figs,  dates,  and  all  kinds  of  beans. 
In  addition,  this  line  is  a  direct  competitor  of  the  several  Italian  lines  for  the  Mediter- 
ranean business,  bringing  to  this  port  large  quantities  of  macaroni,  olive  oil,  grapes, 
nuts  and  raisins,  tomato  paste,  prunes,  cheese,  and  a  large  quantity  of  Italian  wines. 

COMPAGNIE  GeNERALE  TrANSATLANTIQUE 

Pier  No.  57,  Foot  of  West  Fifteenth  Street 

From  Bordeaux  and  Havre  it  brings  to  this  port  all  kinds  of  French  wines  and 
brandies,  preserves,  caviar,  cheese,  sardines,  and  large  quantities  of  canned  goods. 

Atlantic  Transport  Line 
Pier  58,  N.  R.,  Foot  West  Seventeenth  Street 

Between  New  York  and  London.  In  addition  to  large  quantities  of  potatoes,  this 
line  brings  to  New  York  beans  of  all  kinds,  dates,  figs,  fish,  lime  juice,  almonds, 
gelatine,  and  all  kinds  of  nuts  and  canned  goods. 

Red  Star  Line 
Pier  59,  N.  R.,  Foot  West  Eighteenth  Street 

Between  New  York  and  Antwerp.  Brings  to  this  market  large  quantities  of  pota- 
toes, grapes,  Rhine  wines,  champagnes,  preserves,  sardines,  cheese,  frankfurter 
sausages,  and  fish  in  barrels. 

White  Star  Line 
Piers  60  and  61,  Foot  West  Twentieth  and  Twenty-first  Streets 

Between  New  York,  Liverpool,  and  Southampton.  Brings  to  this  city  large  quan- 
tities of  canned  goods,  wines,  brandies,  preserves,  mineral  waters,  potatoes,  cheese, 
sardines,  and  tapioca  flour,  as  well  as  considerable  ales,  beer,  and  nuts  of  various 
kinds. 

American  Line 
Pier  No.  62,  Foot  West  Twenty-second  Street 

Between  New  York  and  Southampton.  Brings  to  this  market  large  quantities  of 
wines,  ales,  porter,  sardines,  peanuts,  rice,  grapes,  figs,  canned  goods,  and  large 
quantities  of  lemons. 

Anchor  Line 
Pier  No.  64,  Foot  West  Twenty-fourth  Street 

Between  New  York  and  Glasgow.  Brings  to  this  port  large  quantities  of  jams, 
lentils,  salt  herring  and  dried  fish,  and  considerable  Scotch  whisky.  This  steamship 
line  has  been  bringing  into  the  New  York  market  since  November  last  large  quantities 


35 


of  Scotch  potatoes,  and  after  paying  duty  the  consignees  are  able  to  sell  the  potatoes 
on  the  dock  at  Twenty-fourth  Street  at  from  $2.25  to  $2.50  per  barrel.  Domestic 
potatoes  are  selling  in  this  market  from  $4  to  $5  per  barrel. 

Hamburg-American  Line 
Pier  No.  65,  Foot  West  Twenty-fifth  Street 

Between  New  York  and  Mediterranean  ports,  and  brings  to  this  port  large  quanti- 
ties of  macaroni,  olive  oil,  garlic,  wines,  olives,  tomato  paste,  and  nuts  of  various 
kinds. 

La  Veloce  Navigazione  Italia  a  Vapore 
Pier  No.  74,  N.  R.,  Foot  of  West  Thirty-fourth  Street 

From  Genoa  and  Naples,  and'  brings  to  this  port  large  quantities  of  macaroni, 
olive  oil,  garlic,  Italian  wines,  olives,  tomato  paste,  nuts  of  various  kinds,  onions, 
rice,  beans,  cheese,  sardines  and  other  canned  fish,  dried  peppers,  candy,  and  dried 
fruits.    Small  profit  in  freight;  dividends  come  from  the  passenger  business. 

COMPANIA  TrANSATLANTICA   (SPANISH  LiNe) 

Pier  8,  E.  R.,  Coenties  Slip,  East 

Operating  between  New  York  and  Barcelona,  Malaga,  and  Cadiz,  Spain.  Brings 
to  this  market  large  quantities  of  Spanish  wines,  onions,  garlic,  olive  oil,  olives, 
canned  anchovies  and  other  kinds  of  canned  fish,  and  all  kinds  of  nuts  and  raisins. 
This  is  the  only  line  to  Spain  direct  from  New  York. 

MuNsoN  Line 
Pier  9,  E.  R.,  Foot  of  Old  Slip 

Plying  between  New  York  and  Cuba ;  brings  into  this  port  large  quantities  of 
honey,  molasses,  raw  sugar,  and  some  grape  fruit.  The  raw  sugar  either  goes  direct 
to  the  refinery  by  steamer  or  is  lightered  there.  This  company  sub-leases  the  east  side 
of  its  pier  to  the  Atlantic  Fruit  Company. 

Atlantic  Fruit  Company 
East  Side  of  Pier  9,  E.  R. 

Brings  to  this  port  from  Cuban  and  West  Indian  ports  large  quantities  of  bananas. 
These  bananas  are  graded  at  the  receiving  point  and  sold  by  auction  over  the  ship's 
side  on  arrival  in  New  York. 

New  York  &  Cuba  Mail  Steamship  Company 
Piers  13  and  14,  E.  R.,  Between  Wall  Street  and  Maiden  Lane 

Operating  between  New  York  and  Havana.  Cuba.  Brings  to  this  port  large  quanti- 
ties of  raw  sugar,  some  coffee,  and  considerable  grape  fruit  and  tomatoes. 

United  Fruit  Company 
Piers  15  and  16,  E.  R.,  Burling  Slip 

Operates  between  New  York  and  Cuba  and  other  West  Indian  ports,  including 
Jamaica  and  Porto  Rico.    Carries  principally  bananas  to  this  port,  some  grape  fruit. 


36 


oranges,  and  cocoanuts.  The  United  Fruit  Company  regulates  the  price  on  each  cargo 
of  bananas  brought  into  this  port  by  its  ships  daily.  Mode  of  delivery  by  truck,  ex- 
cept such  as  are  put  over  the  ship's  side  into  refrigerator  cars  for  Western  delivery. 

CuNEO  Steamship  Company 
Pier  No.  1,  N.  R.,  Foot  Battery  Place 

Plying  between  New  York  and  South  American  ports,  brings  to  this  city  large 
quantities  of  bananas;  these  bananas  are  graded  at  receiving  point  and  sold  by  the 
auctioneer  over  the  ship's  side  in  New  York,  being  taken  away  in  the  usual  manner, 
that  is,  by  truck  for  city  delivery  or  over  the  vessels  into  refrigerator  cars  for  Western 
delivery. 

Hartford  &  New  York  Transportation  Company 
Piers  19  and  20,  E.  R.,  Foot  "of  Peck  Slip 

Between  New  York  and  points  in  New  England,  brings  to  this  market  large  quan- 
tities of  fresh  and  canned  fish,  canned  corn  and  beans,  and  very  large  quantity  of 
Maine  potatoes. 

In  addition  to  the  food  stuffs  received  at  the  different  piers  on  Manhattan  Island, 
great  quantities  of  this  commodity  are  received  in  Brooklyn  at  the  large  and  com- 
modious piers,  warehouses,  and  railroad  terminals  of  the  New  York  Dock  Company. 
These  piers,  warehouses,  and  railroad  terminals  extend  along  the  Brooklyn  water 
front  for  a  distance  of  three  miles.  On  this  extended  water  front  39  piers  of  various 
size  are  located,  the  longest  being  1,193  feet  from  end  to  end,  more  than  200  ware- 
houses with  a  cubic  capacity  of  81,625,652  cubic  feet,  three  railroad  freight  terminals 
(located  at  Fulton  Street,  Baltic  Street,  and  Atlantic  Avenue),  and  an  assembly  depot 
for  lighter  shipments  in  the  Atlantic  Basin. 

Great  quantities  of  coffee  are  stored  on  these  piers  and  in  the  warehouses  of  the 
company,  this  being  called  the  coffee  market  for  Brazilian  coffee  coming  into  the 
United  States. 

A  large  number  of  these  piers  are  leased  to  steamship  lines,  as  follows: 

Booth  Steamship  Line 
Foot  of  Poplar  Street,  Pier  4 

Plying  between  New  York  and  Brazil,  brings  to  this  country  large  quantities  of 
Brazil  nuts  (about  5,000  tons  per  annum).  Its  principal  cargo  is  rubber,  which  is 
brought  from  points  on  the  Amazon  River. 

Lamport  &  Holt  Line 
Pier  8,  Foot  of  Orange  Street 

Between  New  York  and  ports  in  Brazil  and  the  Argentine  Republic.  This  line 
carries  large  quantities  of  coffee  in  bags  and  considerable  cocoa. 

Red  "D"  Line 

From  ports  in  Venezuela  and  Porto  Rico;  cargo  principally  coffee  and  cocoa. 

New  York  &  Cuba  Mail  Steamship  Company 
Piers  16  and  19,  Between  Remsen  and  State  Streets 

Between  New  York  and  Cuban  and  Mexican  ports;  carries  to  this  market  large 
quantities  of  sugar,  coffee,  and  fruits. 


37 


Pierce  Line 
Pier  22,  Foot  of  Pacific  Street 

From  Mediterranean  ports ;  carries  large  quantities  of  fruit,  macaroni,  and  olive 
oil,  and  all  other  classes  of  food  stuffs  from  the  East. 

Anchor  Line 
Pier  No.  29,  Foot  of  Harrison  Street 

From  Genoa  and  Naples,  and  brings  to  this  city  large  quantities  of  macaroni,  olive 
oil,  olives,  nuts  of  all  kinds,  and  considerable  Italian  wines. 

Trinidad  Shipping  &  Trading  Company 
Pier  24,  Foot  of  Amity  Street 

Between  New  York  and  West  Indian  ports,  bringing  to  this  market  large  quanti- 
ties of  coffee,  sugar,  and  cocoa. 

Insular  Line 
Pier  27,  Foot  of  Baltic  Street 

Plying  between  New  York  and  Porto  Rico,  carries  large  quantities  of  sugar,  coffee, 
and  some  fruit. 

Clyde  West  Indian  Line 
Pier  34,  Foot  of  Union  Street 

Between  New  York  and  West  Indies;  carries  large  quantities  of  coffee,  sugar, 
cocoa,  and  fruit. 

New  York  &  Porto  Rico  Steamship  Company 
Pier  35,  Foot  of  Union  Street 

Between  New  York  and  Porto  Rico;  carries  large  quantities  of  coffee,  sugar,  and 
fruit. 

The  following  steamship  lines  dock  at  the  open  piers  of  the  New  York  Dock  Com- 
pany, but  have  no  particular  designated  pier  space : 

Uranium  Steamship  Company 
From  Hamburg;  carries  a  general  cargo,  mostly  case  goods. 

New  York  &  Demerara  Steamship  Line 
From  West  Indian  ports ;  carries  principally  sugar. 

Prince  Line 
From  Brazil ;  carries  principally  coffee  and  sugar. 

FuNCH,  Edye  &  Co. 
From  Brazil ;  cargo  principally  coffee  and  cocoa. 

Hellenic  Line 

From  Greece;  carries  great  quantities  of  Eastern  fruit,  both  green  and  preserved. 


38 


Fabre  Line 
Foot  of  Thirty-first  Street,  South  Brooklyn 

Plying  between  New  York  and  Genoa  and  Naples  and  other  Mediterranean  ports ; 
brings  to  this  city  large  quantities  of  macaroni,  olive  oil,  olives,  dried  peas  and  beans, 
cheese,  preserves,  and  tomato  paste. 

The  Bush  Terminal  Company's  plant,  embracing  piers,  warehouses,  and  railroad 
terminals,  extending  from  40th  to  52d  Streets,  South  Brooklyn,  is  the  most  complete 
and  up-to-date  dock  and  terminal  system  in  New  York  Harbor.  Seven  large  concrete 
piers  extend  out  in  the  bay  for  a  distance  of  over  1,300  feet.  These  piers  are  covered 
with  new  steel  sheds  of  the  latest  approved  type  and  of  modern  construction.  These 
piers  furnish  ample  docking  facilities  for  a  large  number  of  steamship  lines,  as  many 
as  27  steamships  being  docked  there  at  one  time.  Back  of  these  piers  on  the  up- 
land a  number  of  large  and  commodious  warehouses  of  concrete  construction  are 
located.  Four  of  these  warehouses  are  600  feet  long,  75  feet  wide,  and  six  stories 
high;  14  being  700  feet  long,  75  feet  wide,  and  six  stories  high,  and  a  number  of 
smaller  buildings  of  modern  construction.  These  buildings  are  equipped  with  ele- 
vators capable  of  carrying  a  carload  of  freight  at  one  time,  and  back  of  these  piers 
and  warehouses  a  system  of  railroad  tracks  is  laid  out  which  provides  ample  facilities 
for  transferring  loaded  cars  to  and  from  the  warehouses  above  referred  to.  At  the 
extreme  south  of  this  property  a  large  car  float  terminal  is  located  with  ample  transfer 
bridges  to  take  care  of  the  car  floats  coming  to  the  terminal.  I  give  you  below  some 
of  the  steamship  lines  occupying  the  piers  of  the  Terminal  Company: 

Austro-American  Steamship  Company,  Ltd. 
Pier  1,  Foot  of  Fiftieth  Street 

Plying  between  New  York  and  Mediterranean  ports ;  brings  to  this  city  large 
quantities  of  olive  oil,  olives,  lemons,  oranges,  almonds,  cheese,  and  canned  goods. 

Norton  &  Son 
Pier  2 

Between  New  York  and  South  American  ports ;  brings  in  large  quantities  of  cocoa, 
cocoanuts,  and  other  South  American  products. 

Funch,  Edve  &  Co. 
Pier  3,  Foot  of  Forty-seventh  Street 

Between  New  York  and  West  Indian  ports;  brings  into  this  market  large  quanti- 
ties of  cocoa  beans,  domestic  cocoanuts,  coffee,  and  other  West  Indian  products. 

Prince  Line 
Pier  4,  Foot  of  Forty-fifth  Street 

Between  New  York,  Bombay,  and  Calcutta ;  brings  to  this  market  large  quantities 
of  peas,  raisins,  cinnamon,  cheese,  cocoa  beans,  and  large  quantities  of  preserved 
fruits. 

Lloyd  Brazillieno 
Pier  5,  Foot  of  Forty-fourth  Street 

Between  New  York  and  ports  in  Brazil ;  brings  to  this  city  large  quantities  of 
doflFee,  cocoa,  and  other  South  American  products. 


39 


Pier  6,  Foot  of  Forty-second  Street 
Open  pier  for  tramp  steamers. 

American  Hawaiian  Line 
Pier  No.  7,  Foot  of  Forty-first  Street 


From  Mexico  and  other  ports;  brings  to  this  city  all  kinds  of  dried  fruits,  salmon, 
preserved  vegetables,  currants,  and  some  California  wines. 


II— FINANCIAL  STATEMENT 

OF 

PUBLIC  MARKETS 

OF 

THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 
1910,  1911  AND  1912 

Prepared  by  Sidney  A.  Goodacre 
of  the  Department  of  Finance, 
City  of  New  York 


WALLABOUT  MARKET,  1912. 


Assessed  Valuation 

Land   $1,150,900.00 

Buildings   4,500.00 

Total   $1,155,400.00 


Original  Cost 

Land   $1,413,760.00 

Buildings   4,500.00 

Total   $1,418,260.00 


Income 

Lot  rents   $67,803 . 56 

Wagon  fees   11,221.00 

Total   $79,024.56 


Expenses 

Labor   $14,345.01 

Supplies   955.69 

Repairs   277.70 

Lighting   3,300.00 

Collector's  salary   1,650.00 

Total   $20,528.40 

Interest  4%  on  assessed  valuation   46,216.00  66,744.40 

Balance   $12,280.16 


Losses  by  exemption  from  taxation   $21,605.98 

Balance   12,280.16 

Net  loss   9,325 . 82 


Taxes  Paid  by  Owners  of  Buildings 
Valuation,  $916,400.00  


$17,136.68 


44 


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GANSEVOORT  MARKET,  1912. 


Assessed  Valuation 

Land   $850,000.00 

Buildings   None 


Total   $850,000.00 


Original  Cost 
Land  


Income 

Wagon  fees   $8,654 . 25 

Expenses 

Cleaners  and  laborers   $3,082 . 1 2 

Horses  and  carts   2,557. 18 

Supplies  (janitorial)   1.54 

Repairs  and  material   80.27 

Collector's  salary   750 . 00 

Total   $6,472.11 

Interest  at  4%  on  assessed  valuation   34,000 . 00       40,472 . 1 1 


Loss   31,817.86 

Loss  BY  exemption  from  taxes   $15,895.00 


47,712.86 


Net  loss   $47,712.86 


DELANCEY  STREET  MARKET,  1912. 


Income 

Land  acquired  for  bridge  structure   None 

Buildings   None 

Wagon  fees   $6,387.00 

Stand  fees   5,267.00 

Total   $11,654.00 

Expenditures 

Two  sweepers  (part  time),  D.  S.  C   $720.00 

Horses  and  carts  (part  time),  (estimated)   720.00 

Collector's  salary.  Department  of  Finance   1,650.00 

Financial,  stationery  and  supplies  (estimated)   300.00  3,390.00 


Net  profit 


$8,264.00 


III.    PROPOSED  BRONX  MARKET 


A  Wholesale,  Not  Retail,  Market 

The  proposed  market  is  primarily  a  wholesale  market,  designed  to  receive  food 
stuffs  from  everywhere — by  rail,  by  boat,  and  by  farmer's  wagon — and  to  distribute 
them  among  the  retailers  who  are  performing  to-day  the  function  of  supplying  the 
ultimate  consumer.  Its  function  is  not  to  provide  a  place  where  the  farmer  or  pro- 
ducer can  sell  at  retail  directly  to  the  consumer.  New  York,  like  most  other  metro- 
politan cities,  has  grown  so  large,  both  in  area  and  in  population,  that  it  has  become 
physically  impossible  for  the  neighboring  producers  to  bring  enough  supplies  to  the 
market,  and  for  the  consumer  to  go  to  market  for  his  small  daily  needs.  It  will  handle 
foodstuffs  with  the  least  waste  of  effort  and  with  the  smallest  deterioration  in  quality, 
and  it  will  keep  them  in  storage  at  the  market  under  the  most  perfect  conditions  until 
the  consumer  wants  them.  The  municipal  authorities  may  exercise  here  a  control 
over  the  methods  of  buying  and  selling  sufficient  to  counteract  violent  fluctuations  in 
price  and  unjust  price  fixing. 

The  effect  of  collecting  the  food  supply  for  a  section  of  the  city  in  one  place  will 
be  to  enable  the  city  authorities  to  inspect  the  goods  thoroughly,  and  to  prevent  in- 
jurious food  stuffs  from  being  introduced  into  the  market  or  sold  there.  The  Depart- 
ment of  Markets  can  enact  rules  forbidding  the  sale  of  impure  foods  in  the  markets, 
in  the  same  way  that  the  United  States  Government  forbids  improper  use  of  the 
mails.  The  effect  of  this  protection  of  the  food  supply  of  the  city  would  be  very 
-  beneficial. 

Location 

The  proposed  market  occupies  two  parcels  of  land.  One,  with  an  area  of  about 
18.5  acres,  has,  roughly,  the  shape  of  a  very  flat  triangle. 

Its  broad  base  extends  along  Exterior  Street,  which  is  the  marginal  street  along 
the  Harlem  River,  from  the  149th  Street  bridge  to  the  ISlst  Street  bridge;  its  northerly 
side  is  formed  by  151st  Street,  which  is  parallel  with  the  tracks  of  the  New  York 
Central  Railroad,  running  from  Mott  Haven  to  the  Harlem  River;  and  its  easterly 
side  is  formed  by  River  Avenue,  from  151st  Street  to  the  149th  Street  bridge  approach. 
This  parcel  is  covered  by  the  market  railroad  yard,  by  the  power  house,  and  by  a 
group  of  buildings. 

The  other  parcel  covers  9.75  acres,  and  is  bounded  by  River  Avenue,  151st  Street, 
Walton  Avenue,  and  149th  Street,  and  is  covered  by  another  group  of  buildings. 

Two  slips  on  the  Harlem  River,  at  the  foot  of  ISlst  Street  will  accommodate  vessels 
bringing  foodstuffs  to  market.  The  goods  can  be  quickly  unloaded  to  the  sheds  on 
the  adjacent  piers  for  immediate  sale  or  for  storage,  or  they  may  be  removed  to  the 
market  building  for  cold  or  other  storage  by  trolley  cars,  which  run  from  the  pier 
sheds  into  the  market  buildings. 

Industrial  Railroad 

The  proposed  industrial  railroad  along  the  Harlem  waterfront  will  pass  by  the 
market.  As  this  railroad  will  serve  to  connect  the  Pennsylvania-Long  Island-New 
Haven  system  with  the  New  York  Central  system,  as  well  as  with  the  Bronx  terminals 


50 


of  the  Jersey  Central,  Lehigh  Valley  and  other  lines,  all  the  railroads  which  now 
supply  New  York  with  foodstuffs  will  be  brought  not  only  to  the  very  doors  of  the 
market,  but  into  the  basements  of  the  market  buildings  themselves. 

Central  Station 

The  situation  of  the  market  is  central.  Although  located  in  The  Bronx,  it  is  not 
exclusively  a  Bronx  market.  The  Harlem  River  bridges  on  the  south,  and  the  161st 
Street  and  Washington  bridges  on  the  north,  lead  into  broad  avenues  with  light 
grades,  which  bring  the  market  within  easy  reach  of  the  whole  of  Manhattan  Borough 
above  110th  Street,  a  section  of  the  City  which  is  at  present  singularly  unprovided 
with  market  facilities  of  any  importance. 

Besides  serving  The  Bronx  and  upper  Manhattan,  the  market  will  also  serve 
as  a  base  of  supplies  for  Mt.  Vernon,  New  Rochelle,  and  a  part  of  Yonkers. 

It  has  been  laid  out  on  lines  broad  enough  to  supply  the  needs  of  a  population 
which,  according  to  the  estimates  of  competent  authorities,  will  be  in  excess  of 
3,000,000  in  1940. 

Ground  or  Track  Level 

The  ground  or  track  level  of  the  market  is  designed  to  act  as  a  veritable  through 
freight  yard  on  the  industrial  railway.  Experience  in  foreign  cities,  as  well  as  a  study 
of  the  peculiar  needs  of  the  market  and  of  the  character  of  the  industrial  railway, 
have  shown  that  this  is  the  only  method  of  track  arrangement  which  will  satisfy 
the  requirements.    This  level  has  therefore  been  divided  into : 

(1)  A  general  freight  yard  of  6.55  acres,  to  be  used  for  storing  and  switching 
cars,  and  for  unloading  directly  from  cars  to  trucks  or  drays,  or  vice  versa; 

(2)  A  section  under  one  of  the  groups  of  buildings  where  the  cars  are  brought 
alongside  of  broad  unloading  platforms  of  ample  capacity.  Broad  driveways  between 
these  platforms  will  enable  wagons  to  remove  so  much  of  the  goods  as  is  not  intended 
to  be  stored  in  the  building  above.  Elevators  and  stairways  are  provided  for  trans- 
ferring goods  from  these  platforms  to  the  floors  above  for  sale  or  for  cold  or  other 
storage. 

(3)  A  section  under  the  other  group  of  buildings  where  the  tracks  run  along 
platforms  which  cannot  be  reached  directly  by  wagons,  but  from  which  numerous 
elevators  can  remove  the  goods  rapidly  to  the  upper  floors. 

The  floors  on  the  street  level  of  the  buildings  in  this  group  are  devoted  to  stalls 
where  goods  may  be  exposed  for  sale,  and  where  buyer  and  seller  can  come  together, 
sample  the  goods,  and  buy  in  smaller  quantities  than  would  probably  be  handled  in 
the  other  buildings,  which  are  devoted  to  the  handling  of  goods  sent  on  consignment. 

The  Railroad  Yard 

The  railroad  yard  is  spanned  by  the  power  plant,  which  will  supply  all  the  buildings 
with  refrigeration,  and  with  heat  and  light.  That  part  of  Exterior  Street  which  runs 
from  the  approach  to  the  149th  Street  bridge  to  the  Jerome  Avenue  bridge  will  be 
carried  on  a  viaduct. 

The  lower  or  track  and  pier  level  will  be  reached  from  the  streets  above  by  four 
ramps,  or  inclined  approaches  on  easy  grades,  which  are  so  located  as  to  separate, 
where  possible,  the  opposing  currents  of  traffic. 

Experience  in  other  cities  has  shown  that  these  currents  are  always  heavy,  and  that 
they  result  in  intolerable  congestion  unless  properly  regulated.  Only  trucks  engaged 
in  market  traffic  will  have  to  cross  the  railroad  tracks  at  grade,  and  this  at  well 
guarded  crossings,  not  over  the  main  tracks. 

The  general  street  traffic  from  the  bridges  and  from  the  adjacent  streets,  as  well 


51 


as  the  general  market  traffic,  will  be  exposed  neither  to  the  delays  nor  to  the  dangers 
incident  to  railroad  crossings  at  grade. 

On  this  level  will  also  be  unloaded,  and  to  a  large  extent  probably  sold,  all  the 
market  goods  brought  in  by  boat.  Products  arriving  by  farm-wagon  can  also  find 
accommodation  on  this  level. 

Upper  or  Street  Level 

The  upper  or  street  level  shows  the  power  plant,  which  spans  the  railroad  yard 
from  River  Avenue  to  the  Exterior  Street  viaduct;  the  group  of  buildings  west  of 
River  Avenue,  bounded  by  River  Avenue,  151st  Street,  Exterior  Street,  and  the  rail- 
road yard  to  the  south;  and  the  other  group  of  buildings,  east  of  River  Avenue, 
bounded  by  River  Avenue,  151st  Street,  Walton  Avenue,  and  149th  Street. 

In  the  buildings  of  the  first  group  are  handled  foodstuffs  sent  on  consignment, 
whether  such  stuffs  require  storing  or  not.  The  unloading  platforms  on  the  track 
level,  which  have  an  area  of  149,000  square  feet,  and  the  broad  driveways  between 
them,  which  permit  the  simultaneous  loading  of  625  trucks,  facilitate  the  removal  of 
goods  in  large  quantities  with  the  least  amount  of  handling. 

On  the  street  level  the  buildings  are  separated  by  driveways,  where  trucks  can  be 
loaded  without  obstructing  the  general  street  traffic. 

At  the  northerly  end  of  this  group  is  the  administration  building.  It  contains, 
besides  the  administration  and  other  offices,  an  auction  room,  covering  144,000  square 
feet. 

No  provision  has  been  made  in  this  group  of  buildings  for  stalls,  stands,  etc., 
for  small  trade.    Should  these  be  found  necessary  they  can  be  easily  provided. 

Experience  in  other  large  cities  has  demonstrated  the  wisdom  of  permitting  the 
minuter  details  to  be  shaped  by  the  market  conditions,  which  are  constantly  varying 
in  response  to  the  changes  in  business  methods,  transportation  and  marketing 
methods,  etc. 

Other  Group  of  Buildings 

The  other  group  of  buildings  is  devoted  to  stuffs  which  are  to  be  sold  to  open 
market  buyers  or  to  consumers,  who  will  inspect  and  sample  the  goods,  and  will 
generally  buy  in  smaller  quantities.  It  consists  of  nine  buildings,  four  stories  high 
above  the  street  level. 

As  in  the  other  group,  driveways  provide  easy  access  for  wagons  to  all  the 
buildings  without  obstructing  the  general  traffic.  The  street  floor  level  of  each  of 
these  buildings  is  divided  into  stores  or  stalls  and  stands  where  goods  may  be  exposed 
for  sale  and  for  sampling. 

The  upper  floors  are  devoted  to  cold  and  other  storage  goods,  and  may  possibly 
be  used  later  for  further  extending  the  number  of  stalls.  Numerous  elevators  con- 
nect the  platforms  on  the  railroad  level  with  the  floors  above,  but  no  goods  can  be 
unloaded  to  trucks  directly  on  the  track  level  of  this  building. 

The  platforms  and  elevators  are  so  laid  out  in  both  groups  of  buildings,  that 
goods  from  any  car  can  be  easily  brought  to  any  building  above  with  the  least  amount 
of  handling.  Numerous  light  shafts  provide  proper  ventilation  and  lighting  on  all 
floors. 

410  Cars  Can  Be  Unloaded  at  Once 
The  number  of  cars  that  can  be  unloaded  at  the  same  time  in  the  proposed  market 
is  410. 

As  the  commodities  will  have  to  be  unloaded  practically  at  the  same  time,  if  the 
present  method  of  sending  goods  to  market  can  be  used  as  a  criterion,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  trackage  facilities  are  none  too  great.  Further  accommodations  may,  how- 
ever, be  provided  on  the  piers  and  by  improved  methods  of  shipping  and  handling. 


52 


The.  platform  areas  available  adjacent  to  the  railroad  tracks  are:  In  the  first 
group  of  buildings,  149,000  square  feet;  in  the  second  group,  352,000  square  feet. 
After  allowance  has  been  made  for  the  space  that  must  be  left  unobstructed,  the 
platform  area  remaining  is  about  twice  as  great  as  that  of  the  maximum  daily 
number  of  cars  which  are  expected  to  arrive  in  1940. 

While  ample,  this  is  not  excessive,  for  goods  are  never  stacked  so  compactly  on 
the  platforms  as  in  the  cars,  and  interruptions  to  traffic  or  congestion  on  the  tracks 
must  be  guarded  against  by  insuring  the  removal  of  goods  as  soon  as  they  arrive, 
without  regard  to  the  subsequent  disposition  made  of  these  goods.  These  platforms 
act  as  regulating  reservoirs — they  take  care  of  the  daily  fluctuations  in  the  arrival  and 
departure  of  goods,  which  must  be  made  independent  of  one  another  in  order  to  insure 
the  most  efficient  utilization  of  the  limited  trackage  facilities. 

The  Selling  Space 

The  selling  space  provided  on  the  street  level  in  the  second  group  of  buildings  is 
279,850  square  feet,  or  about  1,500  square  feet  per  carload  per  maximum  day  in 
1913,  and  620  square  feet  per  carload  per  maximum  day  in  1940. 

These  areas,  when  tested  by  the  experience  with  selling  space  in  markets  of 
foreign  cities,  are  none  too  great.  They  would,  in  fact,  be  too  small  were  there  not 
a  possibility  of  extending  the  market  over  the  railroad  yard,  piers,  etc.,  and  to  the 
upper  floors  of  the  buildings. 

The  gross  storage  space  in  both  groups  of  buildings  is  1,690,000  square  feet. 
Estimates  of  the  quantities  of  commodities  that  have  to  be  carried  over  from  season 
to  season,  and  of  the  height  to  which  they  can  be  stacked  in  the  storeroom,  show 
that  by  1940  the  capacity  of  the  market  will  be  more  than  fully  utilized. 

Concentrating  Power 

Experience  in  other  cities  has  shown  that  the  concentrating  power  of  a  central 
wholesale  market  is  so  intense  that  all  who  can  avail  themselves  of  the  storage  space 
will  do  so  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  Hence  all  the  space  provided  in  the  market 
is  sure  of  occupancy  soon  after  the  erection  of  the  market. 

Further  expansion  may  be  provided  for  by  making  the  foundation  of  the  structures 
capable  of  bearing  additional  stories  when  required.  The  spaces  over  the  piers  and 
over  the  railroad  yard,  which  are  now  left  uncovered,  provide  room  for  further 
expansion. 

The  necessity  for  the  market,  however,  can  be  proved  neither  by  the  perfection 
of  its  architectural  or  of  its  engineering  features  alone,  nor  by  the  excellence  of  its 
location  alone.  These  are  but  elements  which  contribute  to  its  power  of  reducing  the 
price  of  foodstuffs  to  consumers,  which  is  the  only  criterion  for  judging  of  the 
necessity  of  the  market. 

Estimated  Cost  Near  $10,000,000 

It  is  estimated  that  the  entire  market  structure  will  cost  $7,850,000.  This  does 
not  include  the  Exterior  Street  viaduct  or  the  actual  track  laying,  elements  which 
are  not  properly  chargeable  to  the  market. 

The  ground  will  cost  $2,000,000.  A  yearly  rental  of  35  cents  per  square  foot  of 
1,970,000  square  feet  available  for  renting  in  the  building  alone  will  return  7  per  cent, 
on  the  entire  investment.  This  is  more  than  is  required  to  cover  the  fixed  charges 
of  interest  and  sinking  fund,  the  charges  for  depreciation  and  repairs,  and  also  the  tax 
on  the  value  of  the  ground. 


53 


The  Economies 

The  market,  with  its  sales  agents,  will  automatically  perform  the  centralizing 
function  which  is  now  performed  by  the  market  agents  and  collectors,  and,  to  a 
limited  extent,  by  the  various  growers'  organizations.  This  should  eliminate,  say, 
from  3  per  cent,  to  5  per  cent,  of  the  present  retail  price  of  goods. 

The  cost  of  repeated  handling,  after  the  goods  reach  the  City,  will  be  largely 
reduced  by  the  proximity  of  the  storage  houses  to  the  cars  and  boats.  The  cost  of 
storage  will  be  reduced  by  the  centralization  of  the  mechanical  and  refrigerating 
facilities. 

The  cost  of  insurance  will  be  reduced  by  the  modern  structures.  The  losses  now 
incident  to  the  unavoidable  exposure  of  goods,  careless  handling,  loss  of  time  and 
energy  in  obtaining  the  several  articles  of  food  from  widely  scattered  places  will 
surely  be  eliminated. 

Market  Is  Not  to  Produce  Revenue 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  market  system  that  it  shall  be  used  to  produce  revenue 
which  may  be  spent  on  other  phases  of  the  City's  activities — i.  e.,  to  be  used  as  a 
means  of  indirect  taxation.  If  the  demand  for  space  in  the  market  exceeds  the  supply, 
so  that  the  market  is  surrounded  by  stores  which  bring  in  higher  rentals  than  those 
in  the  market,  then  the  market  occupants  will  be  deriving  a  special  benefit  which,  ac- 
cording to  rigid  economic  laws,  they  will  not  voluntarily  share  with  the  public. 

In  that  case  the  rents  should  be  raised,  or,  possibly,  some  means  of  price  regulation 
devised.  To  prevent  the  possibility  of  such  a  condition  arising  the  market  has 
been  planned  on  a  sufficiently  large  scale  to  accommodate  all  the  trade  at  that  point 
for  many  years  to  come. 

The  income  then  should  be  enough  only  to  cover  expenses,  for  there  is  no  more 
equitable  way  of  benefiting  the  members  of  the  community  than  to  let  them  enjoy 
the  results  of  their  own  economy  directly. 

Estimates  of  Space  Needed  in  the  Market 
The  exact  amount  of  trade  that  will  seek  space  in  such  a  market  it  is  difficult  to 
predict.  We  assume,  however,  that  in  a  few  years  the  market  will  be  the  main 
receiving  and  distributing  place  for  the  food  supplies  of  the  people  of  Manhattan 
above  110th  Street  and  of  The  Bronx,  and  that  the  following  figures  form  a  fair 
basis  for  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  size  of  the  market  needed. 

An  analysis  of  the  amount  of  food  products  brought  to  this  city  in  1911  by  one 
railroad  indicates  the  average  loads  per  car  to  be: 


Tons 

1.  Flour   18.9 

2.  Canned  Goods   20.2 

3.  Butter   12. 

*4.  Eggs   11.1 

5.  Meats,  etc   14. 

6.  Lard   12.8 

7.  Green  Fruit   11.3 

8.  Condensed  Milk   18.5 

9.  Poultry   10. 

10.  Dried  Beans   13.1 

11.  Green  Vegetables   10. 

12.  Dried  Fruit   17.9 

13.  Popcorn   26.6 

14.  Nuts   10.5 

15.  Crackers   12.6 

16.  Cheese   9.3 

17.  Cereals   15  l 

18.  Tea   12.5 

19.  Watermelons   13  9 

20.  Salt   17.5 

*420  crates  of  3o  dozen  per  car. 


54 


These  averages,  applied  to  the  estimates  of  consumption  of  food  in  the  city  given 
by  the  Committee  on  Markets,  Prices  and  Costs  of  the  New  York  State  Food  In- 
vestigating Commission,  indicate  that  the  total  consumption  of  these  foodstuffs  in  the 
city  by  tons  and  carloads  is  approximately  as  follows : 

Tons  Carloads 

Meat                                                       440,000  31,400 

Butter                                                       69,500  5,792 

Eggs   4,700,000  (crates  11,200 

of  30  doz.) 

Flour                                                       450,000  23,750 

Poultry  (dressed)                                         50,000  5,000 

Potatoes                                                   375,000  31,200 

Vegetables  and  Fruit   29,638* 

Cheese                                                       14,500  1,560 

Cereals                                                        35,000  2,300 

Canned  Goods                                           625,000  31,000 

Sugar   200,000 — Distributed  independently  to  great  extent. 

Coffee   22,500 — Distributed  independently  to  great  extent. 

Fish   75,000 — Arrives  by  water  mainly. 

*  Approjdmate.    Much  of  the  fruit  and  vegetables  are  brought  by  ship. 


On  the  basis  of  the  foregoing  figures  and  the  distribution  of  population  in  the 
city  the  following  table  gives  a  close  estimate  of  the  car-lot  business  that  will  come 
into  the  market.  Some  commodities  that  will  probably  come  to  the  market  by  rail 
and  others  that  will  come  by  boat  are  not  included. 


55 


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1 


IV.   BRIEF  AND  PLANS  FOR  A  NEW  WEST  WASHINGTON  AND  GANSE- 

VOORT  MARKET 


Submitted  to  Market  Commission  of  the  City  of  New  York  by  Committee  repre- 
senting Gansevoort  Alarket  Business  Men's  Association,  West  Washington  Market 
Association,  Chelsea  Association  of  Merchants  and  Manufacturers,  Greenwich  Village 
Public  Service  Committee. 

New  York,  N.  Y.,  May  20,  1912. 


To  the  Hon.  Cyrus  C.  Miller,  Chairman  of  the  Market  Commission  appointed  by 
His  Honor,  Mayor  Gaynor,  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

Sir: — The  Legislature  of  this  State  at  its  last  session  passed  legislation  providing 
the  Sinking  Fund  Commission  of  this  city  with  authority  to  permit  the  use  of  the 
present  sites  of  West  Washington  Market  and  Gansevoort  Market  for  dock  purposes, 
upon  condition  that  it  first  establish  suitable  quarters  for  these  markets  elsewhere 
in  the  Ninth  Ward  of  the  Borough  of  Manhattan. 

Complying  with  your  invitation  to  make  suggestions  for  such  new  markets,  we 
beg  to  submit  herewith  our  ideas  in  the  form  of  plans : 


General  Plan 

The  accompanying  plans  propose  that  there  shall  be  acquired  land  as  follows: 
The  triangular  block  bounded  by  Little  West  12th 
Street,    Washington,    Greenwich    and  Gansevoort 

Streets   Assessed  Valuation  $522,500 

The    block    bounded    by    Gansevoort,  Washington, 

Greenwich  and  Horatio  Streets   Assessed  Valuation  526,500 

The  block  bounded  by  Horatio,  Washington,  Green- 
wich and  Jane  Streets  Assessed  Valuation  527,000 

The  block  bounded  by  Jane,  Washington,  Greenwich 

and  West  12th  Streets  Assessed  Valuation  537,500 

The  block  bounded  by  West  12th  Street,  Washing- 
ton, Greenwich  and  Bethune  Streets  Assessed  Valuation  430,500 

The  block  bounded  by  West  12th  Street,  West  Street, 

Washington  and  Bethune  Streets   Assessed  Valuation  575,500 

A  strip  approximately  seventy  feet  wide  on  the  west 
side  of  Washington  Street  from  Gansevoort  Street 

to  West  12th   Street  Assessed  Valuation  301,500 

Total  Assessed  Valuation   $3,421,000 

Plate  I  shows  the  location  of  this  land  in  relation  to  contiguous  property,  and 
tracking  connections  with  a  proposed  elevated  railway  on  the  marginal  way. 
Plate  2  shows  a  cross  section  looking  north. 

The  plan  includes  three  buildings  running  longitudinally  from  the  south  side  of 


58 


Little  West  12th  Street  to  the  north  side  of  Bethune  Street,  each  80  feet  in  width 
and  920  feet  in  length,  and  one  building  on  the  west  side  of  Washington  Street  run- 
ning from  a  point  in  the  open  square  about  66  feet  north  of  Gansevoort  Street  to 
the  south  side  of  West  12th  Street,  60  feet  in  width  and  760  feet  in  length.  These 
building  will  be  termed — for  convenience — East  Building,  East  Center  Building,  West 
Center  Building,  and  West  Building. 

Two  new  market  streets  60  feet  wide  are  created  running  north  and  south  between, 
and  generally  parallel  to,  Washington  and  Greenwich  Streets,  which  will  be  called, 
for  convenience.  West  Terminal  Street  and  East  Terminal  Street.  Four  elevated 
tracks  will  traverse  the  terminal  on  Washington  Street;  four  on  West  Terminal 
Street  and  two  on  Greenwich  Street.  These  tracks  will  be  about  4  feet  below  the 
Terminal  Floor,  bringing  that  floor  on  a  level  with  the  floor  of  the  car.  The 
trackage  in  the  Market  terminal  proper  will  accommodate  at  one  time  270  cars  and 
150  cars  may  be  placed  at  one  time  alongside  of  platforms  and  be  unloaded  simul- 
taneously. Thus  there  is  railroad  trackage  at  all  times  for  an  equal  number  of  cars 
waiting  to  be  unloaded,  as  are  unloading,  with  the  result  of  a  minimum  of  switching 
time  required,  to  obtain  continuously  the  full  capacity  of  the  terminal. 

The  track  connections  with  the  main  line  are  shown  to  the  south  of  the  Market, 
avoiding  blockage  and  materially  aiding  the  obtaining  of  the  terminal's  full  capacity. 

On  the  block  bounded  by  West  12th  Street,  Washington  Street,  West  Street,  and 
Bethune  Street  is  an  ell  building  which  will  be  termed  for  convenience  the  South 
Building,  the  two  first  floors  of  which  are  to  be  occupied  by  the  Live  Poultry  Trade. 
This  building  runs  east  and  west  and  is  140  feet  in  width  and  366  feet  in  length.  On 
the  ground  floor  the  building  is  divided  by  a  new  street  40  feet  in  width,  which  will 
be  called,  for  convenience,  South  Terminal  Street. 

Four  independent  spurs  of  tracks-  from  the  main  line  are  proposed  to  be  run 
to  this  building,  one  each  on  West  12th  and  Bethune  Streets  and  two  on  South 
Terminal  Street.    These  spurs  will  accommodate  at  one  time  30  cars. 

Gansevoort,  Horatio,  Jane,  and  West  12th  Streets,  present  city  streets  running 
transversely  through  the  Market,  will  remain  open  thoroughfares  and  of  their 
present  widths.  Washington  Street  will  be  widened  14  feet,  Greenwich  Street  25 
feet  and  Bethune  Street  40  feet  over  their  present  widths. 

Plan  of  Buildings 

It  is  proposed  to  excavate  that  part  of  the  land  from  the  west  side  of  Washington 
Street  to  the  west  side  of  Greenwich  Street,  and  from  about  60  feet  north  of  Ganse- 
voort Street  to  the  north  side  of  Bethune  Street,  forming  the  Basement  of  the  main 
structures. 

A  portion  of  this  basement  will  be  used  for  the  Farmers'  Market,  now  occupying 
the  open  square;  in  this  part  the  walks  and  driveways  are  so  arranged  as  to  permit 
the  farmers  to  deliver  their  garden  products  direct  from  their  trucks  to  the  purchaser. 

The  other  portion  of  the  basement  is  to  be  used  for  the  loading  of  trucks  with 
the  incoming  food  products  from  the  unloading  platforms  above,  and  for  the  unload- 
ing of  trucks  bringing  outbound  freight.  In  this  part  will  be  two  delivery  platforms 
surrounded  by  driveways,  permitting  275  trucks  to  back  up  and  load  at  the  same  time. 
Two  entrance  driveways  are  provided  with  5  per  cent,  grade  and  two  exit  driveways 
of  4'/2  per  cent,  and  5  per  cent,  grades,  respectively.  The  basement  will  have  a  head- 
room of  14  feet  and  will  contain  approximately  425,000  square  feet  of  floor  space. 

The  proposed  Grade  Floor  consists  of  stalls  and  stores  laid  out  in  units  of  20 
feet  by  20  feet.  A  dealer  may  occupy  as  many  units  as  he  desires  to  pay  for.  The 
Second  Floor  immediately  under  the  Terminal  floor  will  be  rented  in  conjunction 
with  the  grade  floor  and  will  be  occupied  by  the  offices  and  refrigerators  and  lofts 


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59 


of  the  dealers.  These  stores  will  be  connected  by  elevators  and  carrier  systems  of 
suitable  design,  with  the  Terminal  floor  and  the  storage  lofts  above. 

These  two  floors  together  occupy  a  headroom  of  27  feet  and  provide  a  renting 
space  for  Market  and  store  purposes  of  approximately  440,000  square  feet  of  floor 
space.  Basement  stores  are  also  provided  approximating  50,000  square  feet  of  floor 
space,  making  a  total  for  these  purposes  of  490,000  square  feet  of  floor  space. 

On  account  of  the  nature  of  the  Live  Poultry  business  now  occupying  about  one- 
fifth  of  the  West  Washington  Market,  it  is  proposed  to  segregate  this  trade  in  the 
South  Building. 

In  the  building  on  the  west  side  of  Washington  Street  local  freight  and  express 
stations  will  be  located. 

The  third  or  Terminal  Floor  is  the  unloading  and  loading  floor  of  the  Market.  It 
consists  of  five  great  platforms  entirely  covered  and  unobstructed  except  by  pillars  and 
elevators.  The  first  platform  covers  the  entire  floor  space  of  the  East  Building,  the 
East  Center  Building,  and  the  intervening  East  Terminal  Street  and  extends  to  the 
tracks,  having  a  floor  area  940  feet  in  length  by  240  feet  in  width,  and  containing 
approximately  225,000  square  feet  of  floor  space,  with  a  headroom  of  14  feet.  Ele- 
vators connect  this  platform  with  the  truck  platforms  in  the  basement,  with  the  stores 
and  street  below,  and  with  the  office  and  storage  floors  above. 

The  second  platform  covers  the  floor  space  of  the  West  Center  Building  and 
extends  to  the  tracks.  It  is  976  feet  in  length  by  96  feet  in  width  and  contains 
approximately  95,000  square  feet  of  floor  space  with  a  headroom  of  14  feet.  Eleva- 
tors connect  this  platform  with  the  stores  and  street  below,  with  the  office  and  storage 
floors  above,  and  possibly  with  the  basement. 

The  third  platform  covers  the  floor  space  of  the  West  Building  and  extends  to  the 
tracks.  It  is  760  feet  in  length  by  68  feet  in  width  and  contains  approximately 
50,000  square  feet  of  floor  space,  with  a  headroom  of  14  feet.  Elevators  connect  this 
platform  with  stores  and  street  below,  with  freight  and  express  floors,  and  with  the 
office  and  storage  floors  above. 

The  fourth  and  fifth  platforms  cover  the  floor  space  of  the  South  Building  and 
extend  to  the  tracks.  They  are  340  feet  in  length  by  62  feet  in  width  each,  and  contain 
approximately  42,000  square  feet  of  floor  space,  with  a  headroom  of  14  feet.  Eleva- 
tors connect  these  platforms  with  stores  and  street  below  and  with  the  storage  lofts 
above. 

The  Fourth  Floor  is  designed  to  be  used  for  Offices  and  Storage  Lofts,  and  will 
contain  approximately  309,000  square  feet  of  floor  space  with  a  headroom  of  12 
feet  8  inches. 

The  Fifth  and  Sixth  Floors  are  designed  to  be  used  for  Dry  and  Cold  Storage 
and  will  contain  approximately  309,000  square  feet  of  floor  space  each,  with  a  head- 
room of  12  feet  8  inches. 


Methods  of  Handling  Freight 

The  methods  by  which  the  freight  at  this  Terminal,  inbound  and  outbound,  will 
be  most  economically  and  expeditiously  handled  are  not  discussed  by  us  at  this  time. 
The  question  as  to  whether  it  should  be  done  by  elevators  and  electric  and  hand 
trucks  alone,  or  by  the  use  also  of  some  of  the  modern  conveyor  systems  is  left  for 
engineers  expert  in  that  subject  to  consider. 

Both  incoming  and  outgoing  freight  would  be  handled  at  this  Market  terminal. 
Suggestion  is  made  for  sidings  in  the  vicinity  with  a  capacity  of  50  cars  accessible 
for  inspection.  One  sample  car  of  a  shipment  would  be  unloaded  in  the  Market,  and 
the  other  cars  sold  after  inspection  and  reshipped  without  unloading.    It  is  estimated 


60 


this  would  avoid  unloading  and  rehandling  in  New  York  of  a  large  quantity  of  fruits 
and  vegetables. 

Business  Conducted  in  the  Market 

The  Market  would  contain  a  considerably  greater  amount  of  store  and  basement 
space  than  exists  in  the  present  Market,  and  within  its  confines  would  be  carried  on 
the  following  businesses: 


Receiving  and  Delivering  R.  R.  Freight 

and  Express  Stations. 
Farmers'  Produce  Market. 
Country  Produce. 

Dairy    Products,    Butter,    Eggs,  and 

Cheese. 
Western  Dressed  Beef. 
Western  Dressed  Small  Stock. 
City  Dressed  Beef. 
City  Dressed  Small  Stock. 
Live  Poultry. 
Dressed  Poultry. 

Apples,  Western  and   Southern  Fruits. 


Celery,  Nuts,  Delicatessen. 
Dried  and  Salt  Fish,  etc. 
Market  Supplies. 
Commercial  Bank. 

Railroad  and  Steamship  Ticket  Offices. 

Telephone  and  Telegraph. 

Refrigerated  Lofts  for  surplus  receipts 

during  seasons  of  over-production. 
Dry  Storage  Lofts. 
Auction  Salesrooms. 
Brokers'  Offices. 
Commercial  Offices. 
Restaurant. 


General  Statement 

In  drawing  up  these  plans  we  have  had  in  mind  not  alone  a  structure  to  take 
the  place  of  the  present  market  buildings,  but  have  endeavored  to  make  suggestions 
in  line  with  the  acknowledged  present  and  future  needs  of  this  city  for  the  receiving 
and  handling  of  its  food  supply. 

It  is  desirable  that  a  structure  should  be  planned  at  this  time  that  will  greatly 
improve  the  present  conditions  for  receiving  and  distributing  this  food  supply  and 
which  will  be  capable  of  expansion  as  the  need  increases. 

In  meeting  this  problem  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  special  conditions  obtain 
in  the  handling  of  food  products  that  do  not  apply  to  general  freight,  because  of 
their  perishable  nature  and  the  necessity  of  delivery  to  the  consumer  free  from 
deterioration  and  spoilage  at  the  lowest  possible  cost  and  in  time  for  their  daily 
consumption.    These  conditions  may  be  specified  as  follows: 

1.  The  railroad  should  be  brought  into  the  market  and  the  food  stuffs  unloaded 
under  cover  and  remain  under  proper  protection  until  sold. 

2.  The  quantity  of  certain  perishable  foods  received  and  disposed  of  in  a  few 
hours  is  so  great  that  adequate  platform  space  must  be  provided  for  temporarily 
placing  the  whole  of  the  night's  receipts  preparatory  to  their  sale. 

Investigation  shows  that,  in  their  heavy  seasons,  five  railroads  handling  the 
bulk  of  the  perishable  foodstuffs  at  piers  in  this  city  receive  in  one  day: 

220  Carloads  of  Vegetables  and  Potatoes. 
175  Carloads  of  Fruit  and  Apples. 
60  Carloads  of  Berries. 
120  Carloads  of  Butter  and  Eggs. 


These  receipts  cannot  be  removed  as  unloaded.  Each  receiver  at  the  present 
time  has  a  space  allotted  to  him  on  the  pier,  or  on  the  bulkhead,  or  under  "Bonnets" 
in  the  roadway  of  West  Street,  or,  finally,  in  the  street  itself,  whether  or  not  the  night 
be  stormy.   On  these  spaces  the  goods  are  stacked  during  the  five  to  eight  hours  of 


61 


unloading  from  7  p.  M.  to  3  a.  m.  A  great  area  is  required  for  this  purpose.  At  a 
stated  hour  when  the  unloading  is  finished  and  all  receipts  assembled  on  the  receivers' 
spaces,  at  3  a.  m.,  the  buyers  appear,  a  gong  is  rung  and  the  sale  commences.  These 
buyers  have  been  hovering  around,  in  the  rain  perhaps,  for  several  hours.  A  large 
part  of  the  produce  is  subject  to  weather  of  all  kinds  and  dust  and  dirt  from  8  to 
10  hours.    The  bulk  of  the  goods  is  removed  by  8  or  9  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

The  space  used  at  the  present  time  for  vegetables  alone,  including  pier,  bulkheads, 
and  street,  is  approximately  100,000  square  feet,  and  this  is  totally  inadequate  for 
the  proper  and  economical  handling  of  the  product. 

The  present  Farmers'  Market  is  on  an  open  square,  known  as  Gansevoort  Market. 
Here  produce  is  exposed  for  many  hours  to  the  elements  and  to  the  dust  and  dirt  that 
are  blown  over  them  by  the  winds  and  storm.  A  considerable  part  of  this  produce 
is  damaged  by  the  heat  of  the  summer  and  the  extreme  cold  of  the  winter.  This 
market  in  the  new  market  terminal  will  be  located  in  the  basement,  entirely  covered 
and  kept  sweet  and  clean,  and  at  a  temperature  of  55  to  60  degrees  the  year 
round.  The  handling  of  these  products  will,  therefore,  be  under  the  most  modern 
sanitary  conditions.  The  present  Farmers'  Market  occupies  a  space  containing  ap- 
proximately 125,000  square  feet.  The  space  to  be  allotted  to  them  in  the  new  market 
will  be  at  least  of  an  equal  area. 

3.  Adequate  facilities  must  be  provided  to  enable  a  vast  number  of  trucks  to 
load  at  the  same  time. 

Each  night  in  the  heavy  vegetable  season,  from  500  to  700  teams  congregate  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  vegetable  and  fruit  piers  on  West  Street.  They  begin  to  come 
from  11  to  12  o'clock  at  night  and  stand  until  the  sale  opens  at  3  a.  m.  Mounted 
police  are  required  to  keep  them  in  place  and  allow  them  to  form  in  loading  line 
when  they  have  received  loading  passes.  Great  congestion  exists.  The  pier  is 
regularly  so  blocked  as  to  endanger  life  and  limb.  The  bulkheads  are  crowded  with 
teams  struggling  to  get  in  and  out.  One  hundred  is  a  liberal  estimate  of  the  number 
of  teams  that  can  load  at  one  time,  and  the  whole  district  at  that  time  is  a  mass 
of  congestion. 

This  situation  is  provided  for  in  the  new  market  terminal  by  the  two  great  truck 
platforms  approximately  800  feet  long,  in  the  basement,  as  shown  in  Plate  4,  and 
heretofore  referred  to.  Two  hundred  and  seventy-five  trucks  will  be  able  to  back  up 
and  load  simultaneously.  Separate  driveways  in  and  out  are  provided  at  different  ends 
of  the  market  to  avoid  congestion. 

4.  Facilities  should  be  provided  for  transferring  products  direct  from  cars  to 
dry  storage  lofts  without  truckage;  and  especially  for  transferring  certain  classes  of 
food  products  direct  from  refrigerator  cars  into  refrigerated  salesrooms  and  ware- 
houses, without  being  exposed  to  a  higher  temperature  and  without  being  trucked 
through  the  streets. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  a  large  amount  of  general  freight  can  be  handled  in  the 
new  market  in  addition  to  foodstuffs.  Great  quantities  of  goods  now  conveyed  by 
trucks  to  distant  storage  on  arrival  of  cars,  and  later  trucked  again  to  stores  and 
warehouses,  would,  in  this  market  terminal,  be  taken  direct  by  elevators  to  storage 
lofts.  Upward  of  $100,000  in  trucking  charges  would  be  saved  yearly  on  this  class 
of  goods  for  dry  storage  in  this  one  market. 

This  point  is  equally  true  of  goods  arriving  in  refrigerator  cars  and  applies  with 
even  greater  force,  because  of  deterioration  and  waste  occasioned  by  trucking  of 
perishable  goods.  Details  would  be  developed  whereby  such  freight  would  be 
unloaded  direct  from  refrigerator  cars  through  cooled  areaways  of  equally  low 
temperature,  into  the  refrigerated  salesrooms  and  lofts  in  this  market  terminal. 

It  is  well  known  by  the  handlers  of  foodstuffs  that  a  great  deterioration  in  perish- 
able food  products  is  occasioned  by  the  necessity  of  trucking  between  the  railroad 


62 


car  and  the  distant  store  or  refrigerator,  with  the  consequent  exposure  to  a  higher 
temperature;  and  that  a  great  loss  by  waste  is  thereby  sustained  yearly. 

Dr.  Mary  E.  Pennington,  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  in  a  recent 
address  on  the  "Marketing  of  Perishable  Products,"  made  the  following  statements: 

"Not  so  many  months  ago  the  country  was  in  a  ferment  over  the 
conservation  of  coal  lands,  water  power,  and  forests  *  *  *  Yet,  I 
venture  to  say,  should  we  undertake  to  reduce  the  figures  of  the  waste 
of  foodstuffs  because  of  decay  and  deterioration  between  producer  and 
consumer,  the  values  of  waterfalls  and  forests  and  coal  mines  would 
dwindle  by  comparison. 

"The  Department  thinks  it  is  justified  in  its  belief  that  even  so  deli- 
cate a  commodity  as  a  carload  of  poultry,  properly  killed,  picked,  chilled, 
packed  and  refrigerated  during  transportation,  is  as  certain  to  arrive  in 
good  order  as  is  a  carload  of  oranges.  Eggs  brought  fresh  to  the  packing 
house,  chilled,  shipped  under  refrigeration,  arrive  at  the  market,  after  a 
week  in  transportation,  in  better  condition  than  the  eggs  from  nearby 
towns  collected  in  the  hit-or-miss  fashion  generally  followed  by  the 
farmer  and  taken  to  market  as  it  suits  his  convenience. 

"The  study  of  the  methods  of  handling  poultry  and  eggs  has  been 
under  way  in  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  several  years.  These 
commodities  are  not  only  becoming  more  and  more  popular  as  foods,  but 
they  are  demanded  by  the  consumer  the  year  round,  and,  as  they  are  sea- 
sonable products,  the  excess  of  the  flush  season  must  be  conserved  by 
cold  storage  if  the  market  is  to  be  supplied  during  the  season  of  scarcity. 
From  a  monetary  viewpoint,  no  other  crop,  except  corn,  is  so  valuable. 
Eggs  alone  are  worth  approximately  $500,000,000  per  annum,  and  poultry 
is  worth  about  half  that  sum.  It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  estimate  in 
dollars  the  amount  of  spoilage  in  any  perishable  food  throughout  the 
country  and  the  year,  yet  we  have  evidence  to  show  that  between  8  and 
10  per  cent,  of  all  the  poultry  and  eggs  raised  are  totally  lost  as  food- 
stuffs before  the  consumer  is  reached.  In  addition  to  this  there  is  the 
shaving  in  price  due  to  deterioration  in  quality.  We  are,  therefore,  prob- 
ably well  within  the  truth  when  we  place  the  loss  on  these  two  com- 
modities as  $75,000,000  yearly.  It  is  practically  all  referable  to  poor 
handling  after  the  bird  is  killed  or  the  egg  laid." 

"Delayed  marketing,  which  is  generally  accomplished  by  the  aid  of 
'cold  storage,'  is  also  being  investigated.  It  has  been  found  that  when 
products  are  properly  prepared  for  storage,  and  are  put  into  the  freezer 
or  chill  room  while  absolutely  fresh,  they  can  be  kept  in  good  condition 
from  one  producing  season  until  the  next.  The  conservation  of  foodstuffs 
during  the  flush  season  is  an  absolute  necessity  if  we  are  to  feed  our 
people  the  year  round  as  we  have  been  feeding  them.  Scientific  and  prac- 
tical experiments  have  indicated  that  when  refrigeration  is  applied  to  the 
product  while  in  perfect  condition  it  remains  in  good  condition  until  the 
next  season  of  production  arrives." 

New  York  receives  yearly,  it  is  estimated: 

Butter  (pounds)  

Eggs  

Fruits  (pounds)  

Poultry  and  Game  (head) 


73,000,000 
1,460,000,000 
6.S8,7,S(),()00 
100,5()().0()0 


63 


The  general  custom  and  proper  method  of  handHng  all  of  these  goods  is  to  ship 
them  in  refrigerator  cars  and  place  them  on  arrival  in  refrigerated  salesrooms  and 
warehouses. 

At  the  present  time  eggs,  butter,  and  poultry  are  shipped  in  refrigerator  cars 
and  in  the  heavy  producing  season  are  unloaded  on  to  the  piers  and  allowed  to 
remain  there,  exposed  to  high  temperatures,  for  several  days.  Decomposition  com- 
mences at  once  with  consequent  waste  and  added  cost  to  the  consumer.  This  waste 
would  be  eliminated  in  the  proposed  terminal  market. 

Dr.  Pennington  states  that  8  to  10  per  cent,  of  all  eggs  and  poultry  produced 
in  this  country  is  lost  yearly  through  improper  handling.  If  we  save  only  2  per  cent 
of  this  loss  it  will  amount  in  one  year  on  the  few  products  enumerated  above  to 
$2,050,000;  and  the  saving  effected  by  the  elimination  of  trucking  charges  to  distant 
warehouses  on  the  same  items  will  amount  to  $400,000  more.  From  these  figures 
an  idea  may  be  reached  of  the  tremendous  saving  that  may  be  effected  if  proper 
facilities  be  furnished  for  handling  all  of  the  receipts  of  foodstuffs  of  this  great 
city. 

With  such  a  market  having  facilities  for  connection  with  the  proposed  elevated 
line  running  along  the  marginal  way,  quantities  of  fruits  brought  in  by  steamship 
lines,  and  now  trucked  to  refrigerated  storehouses  would  be  loaded  from  the  boats 
to  cars  at  the  piers  and  shifted  under  cover  to  the  refrigerated  storage  lofts  of  the 
market,  again  effecting  a  saving  as  against  trucking  with  consequent  deterioration. 

5.  Many  stores  in  connection  with  such  market  terminal  will  permit  of  the  elimina- 
tion of  a  large  amount  of  trucking  charges,  waste,  and  deterioration  and  will  pro- 
portionately reduce  the  cost  to  the  consumer. 

This  will  be  accomplished  by  the  receipts  of  these  dealers  being  brought  to  them 
direct  by  cars  and  delivered  to  their  stores  from  the  unloading  platforms  by  elevators, 
instead  of  being  trucked  great  distances. 

It  is  estimated  that  $200,000  is  now  paid  yearly  by  the  present  occupants  of 
West  Washington  Market  in  charges  for  trucking  their  goods  from  railroad  sidings 
to  their  stands  in  the  market.  It  seems  reasonable  to  assume  with  the  number  of 
additional  dealers  the  proposed  market  will  accommodate,  many  of  whom  would 
be  even  larger  receivers,  that  the  saving  effected  by  having  railroad  tracks  direct 
to  their  places  of  business  will  approximate  $500,000  per  year. 

The  present  West  Washington  Market  contains  store  space,  not  including  their 
second  floor,  of  approximately  91,000  square  feet,  to  which  might  be  added  SO  per 
cent,  for  second  floor  space  used,  totaling  136,500  square  feet. 

The  market  proposed  would  have  approximately  500,000  square  feet  of  store, 
refrigerator,  and  loft  floor  space.    Many  other  dealers  will  be  accommodated  in  it. 

Special  Excellence  of  Location 

The  vicinity  of  the  present  West  Washington  and  Gansevoort  Markets  is  recog- 
nized as  a  central  point  from  which  the  food  supply  of  the  city  may  be  best  distributed 
to  meet  the  large  demand  of  the  downtown  restaurant  district  and  the  uptown  restau- 
rant, hotel,  and  residence  district.  It  is  at  the  center  of  the  steamship  supply  district 
It  is  contiguous  to  all  of  the  incoming  railroad  and  steamship  lines  bringing  in  New 
York's  food  supply. 

The  proposed  market  is  located  on  the  Ninth  Avenue  elevated  line,  with  the 
northern  end  two  blocks  south  of  the  14th  Street  station,  and  it  is  understood  that 
the  Interborough  R.  R.  Company  has  agreed  to  place  a  station  at  West  12th  Street 
which  will  be  at  the  southern  end  of  the  market.  Fourteenth  Street,  Eighth  Avenue, 
Hudson  Street  and  West  Street— all  wide  avenues— afford  splendid  thoroughfares  for 
reaching  it,  with  Gansevoort,  Horatio,  Jane,  West  12th  and  Rethune  Streets  running 


64 


directly  through  it.  Surface  car  lines  run  on  both  sides  of  the  market  by  direct  line 
across  Fourteenth  Street,  thus  making  direct  connections  to  the  market  with  all 
subway  and  elevated  lines.  It  will  be  one  block  from  the  Eighth  Avenue  surface  line, 
and  two  blocks  from  the  proposed  Seventh  Avenue  subway. 

Expansion 

The  blocks  to  the  south  of  the  proposed  market  are  not  at  this  time  improved 
with  expensive  realty.  The  plan  suggested  is  capable  of  gradual  expansion  in  this 
direction  as  the  needs  of  the  city  require. 

Relief  of  the  Water  Front 

In  addition  to  meeting  the  great  need  of  the  city  for  better  market  conditions,  the 
building  of  this  proposed  market  would  accomplish  the  removal  of  West  Washington 
Market  from  the  water  front,  leaving  this  space  free  for  long  piers. 

It  would  remove  the  receipt  of  food  products  from  the  water  front — this  being 
about  one-third  of  the  freight  receipts  of  the  city — and  consequently  probably  release 
for  steamship  purposes  some  piers  now  used  by  the  railroads. 

First  Step  in  Solving  Problem 

Such  a  market  terminal  would  be  the  first  step  of  this  city  in  solving  its  great 
problem  of  economically  receiving  and  distributing  its  enormous  food  and  general 
supplies.  With  this  one  in  successful  operation,  self-sustaining  and  paying  a  hand- 
some revenue  to  the  city,  others  will  quickly  follow,  and  New  York  City  will  have 
put  itself  in  the  foremost  rank  in  carrying  out  the  policy  of  bringing  the  producer 
closer  to  the  consumer,  and  reducing  costs  to  the  minimum.  With  the  certainty  that 
their  produce  will  be  properly  handled  and  deterioration  and  waste  eliminated,  and, 
with  the  logical  result  that  they  will  receive  a  fair  return  for  their  products,  the 
farmers  of  the  country  will  be  stimulated  to  greater  production  and  lower  prices 
will  naturally  follow. 

To  accomplish  this  object  New  York  City  should  take  the  lead  in  a  policy  of 
improving  transportation  facilities  with  a  resultant  decrease  of  freight  and  express 
charges ;  in  increasing,  improving,  and  standardizing  storage  facilities  for  carrying 
surplus  food  products ;  and  in  providing  means  for  the  delivery  of  such  products 
from  arriving  cars  to  market  terminals,  where  they  would  be  disposed  of  by  direct  sale 
or  be  placed  under  refrigeration  without  exposure  creating  waste  and  deterioration, 
and  without  drayage  to  distant  warehouses. 

Summary  of  Results  Attained 

The  capacity  of  a  market  on  these  plans  for  accomplishing  the  relief  sought  is 
shown  by  a  recapitulation  of  some  of  the  foregoing  figures : 

Trackage  alongside  platforms  so  as  to  unload  at  one  time  150  cars. 

Total  trackage  at  one  time  for   270  cars. 

Unloading  capacity  each  24  hours   2,400  cars. 

Surface  on  unloading  platforms   400,000  sq.  ft. 

Capacity  of  unloading  platforms   3,200,000  cu.  ft. 

Platform  space  equal  to  contents  of  fully  loaded   1,850  cars. 

Foodstuffs  unloaded  direct  to  refrigerated  lofts  without  drayage. 
General  merchandise  unloaded  direct  to  storage  lofts  without  drayage. 
Time  and  expense  saved  by  having  capacity  for  loading  275  trucks  simultaneously. 
Foregoing  statements  show  estimated  savings  of  $3,000,000  yearly.   To  this  would 
be  added  much,  as  also  heretofore  indicated,  that  cannot  be  estimated.    In  addition, 


65 


would  be  the  saving  to  the  city,  by  lessening  the  wear  and  tear  on  city  streets  of 
trucking  eliminated;  by  avoiding  the  present  necessary  cost  to  the  city  of  widening 
streets  by  reason  of  trucking  congestion.  SUCH  A  MARKET  WOULD.  THERE- 
FORE, BE  PAID  FOR  INDIRECTLY  IN  SAVING  TO  THE  PEOPLE  IN  THE 
COURSE  OF  2  OR  3  YEARS. 

Cost  and  Earnings  of  Terminal 

It  is  estimated  that  such  a  market  would  cost,  inclusive  of  land  and  exclusive  of 
railroad  structure,  $8,610,832. 

Space  in  such  market  would  be  valuable  by  reason  of  its  railway  connections  and 
up-to-date  facilities.  It  would  contain  over  2,100,000  square  feet  of  renting  floor 
space  which,  at  even  the  very  low  figure  for  such  facilities  of  40  cents  per  square 
foot,  would  yield  an  annual  income  of  $840,000,  or  9j/2  per  cent,  on  the  investment. 
It  will,  therefore,  be  not  only  self-sustaining,  but  profitable  to  the  city,  and  allow  of 
an  amortization  fund  which  will  eventually  wipe  out  the  investment.  Rents  would 
then  be  lowered,  still  further  reducing  the  cost  to  the  consumer. 

Relation  to  General  Terminal  Scheme 
The  proposed  plan  is  primarily  adapted  to  the  35th  Street  R.  R.  Terminal  and 

elevated  line  along  the  marginal  way  which  has  been  proposed.    It  would  form  one, 

and  probably  the  largest,  of  the  business  terminals  along  the  route  of  the  elevated, 

as  suggested  in  that  plan. 

At  the  same  time,  if  the  Unit  Terminal  Plan,  as  also  suggested,  should  meet 

with  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  this  proposed  West  Washington  Market 

terminal  would  be  equally  adapted  to  that  plan. 

Recommendation  That  Part  at  Least  Be  Built  Immediately 
In  view  of  the  close  approach  of  the  date  of  expiration,  in  June,  1913,  of  the  per- 
mission of  the  U.  S.  Government  for  the  extension  of  the  river  pierhead  line  for 
certain  piers,  and  the  consequent  pressing  need  of  the  Dock  Department  for  longer 
piers;  and  in  view  of  the  possibility  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment 
needing  further  time  for  determination  of  a  general  terminal  plan  for  the  city; 
and  in  view  of  the  fact  stated  heretofore  that  the  proposed  West  Washington  Market 
terminal  will  adapt  itself  readily  to  any  solution  of  the  problem  that  may  be 
reached : 

We  Respectfully  Recommend  that  you  suggest  and  urge  upon  His  Honor  the 
Mayor  and  the  Sinking  Fund  Commissioners  that  action  be  immediately  taken  upon 
that  part  of  the  proposed  plan  included  in  the  area  bounded  by  Little  West  12th, 
Washington,  Jane,  and  Greenwich  Streets,  and  in  the  area  bounded  by  West  12th, 
Washington,  Bethune,  and  West  Streets;  that  a  market  be  built  on  these  areas  in 
conformity  with  the  plans  herewith  submitted,  which  will  care  for  the  tenants  of 
the  present  West  Washington  and  Gansevoort  Markets  and  allow  expeditious  use  of 
those  sites  for  piers.  The  completion  of  the  market  on  the  lines  proposed  can  then 
await  the  final  determination  of  the  general  problem  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  and 
Apportionment. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

P.  MAXWELL  SAYFORD, 

Secretary  to   the  Committee. 
Representing 

GANSEVOORT  MARKET  BUSINESS  MEN'S  ASSOCIATION. 
WEST  WASHINGTON  MARKET  ASSOCIATION. 
CHELSEA  ASS'N  OF  MERCHANTS  AND  MANUFACTURERS 
GREENWICH  VILLAGE  PUBLIC  SERVICE  COMMITTEE. 


V.    PUBLIC  jNIARKETS  IN  AMERICAN  CITIES 
By  J.  F.  Carter,  Secretary,  San  Antonio  (Texas)  Chamber  of  Commerce 

A  study  of  the  marketing  of  farm  products,  other  than  cereals,  wool,  and  cotton, 
brings  one  to  the  conclusion  that  marketing  produce  in  the  United  States  is  in  a 
lamentably  chaotic  condition. 

In  very  few  cases  do  we  find  the  public  markets  receiving  regular  shipments  of 
food  products  direct  from  communities  other  than  their  own.  In  all  cases  we  find 
the  market  master,  the  man  who  should  be  an  executive  head,  a  very  much  underpaid 
individual;  in  almost  all  cases  he  is  nothing  but  a  janitor,  or  the  slightly  elevated  boss 
of  a  janitor  or  force  of  janitors. 

We  find  the  first  development  of  a  market  is  the  "curb"  variety — a  stated  place 
where  the  producers  gather  with  their  wagons  and  offer  their  wares.  In  some  in- 
stances we  find  the  produce  bought  by  jobbers,  in  other  cases  by  the  retailers,  and,, 
lastly,  by  the  ultimate  consumer. 

The  next  development  shows  a  building  in  which  are  stalls  on  two  sides  of  a  long 
aisle,  where  producers  or  commission  men  or  retailers,  or  all,  offer  their  goods  to 
the  consumer.  And  the  next  development  is  the  allotment  of  curb  space  to  farmers 
outside  the  market.  In  the  great  majority  of  cases  the  markets  are  owned  and 
regulated  by  the  municipality,  with  here  and  there  a  market  owned  and  operated  by 
a  private  company. 

A  questionnaire  has  elicted  the  following  information  concerning  tlie  public  mar- 
kets of  this  country  and  Canada : 

Baltimore,  Md. 

The  Lexington  Market  in  Baltimore  is  the  one  to  which  that  city  points  with 
pride,  though  there  are  several  other  market  houses.  About  600  wagons  are  accom- 
modated at  the  curb  space  at  this  Lexington  market,  and  there  are  1,200  booths 
within.  No  accommodations  are  given  to  the  public  in  the  way  of  rest  rooms,  restau- 
rants, etc.,  but  the  idea  of  comfort  stations  is  now  being  discussed.  The  market 
master  receives  a  salary  of  $1,400,  while  the  assistant  market  masters  receive  $400  to 
$900  per  annum;  the  cleaners  are  paid  as  high  as  $660.  In  1911  the  Lexington  Mar- 
ket's expenses  were  $9,682,  while  the  receipts  were  $17,209,  leaving  a  very  comfortable 
surplus.  It  is  estimated  that  50,000  people  visit  this  market  on  market  days.  There 
is  no  delivery  service.  The  rental  and  license  bring  $25  per  annum  to  the  city  as 
revenue  from  each  stall. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

There  are  four  public  markets  in  Buffalo  owned  and  controlled  by  the  city.  They 
are  considered  a  success,  as  "the  people  get  larger  assortm.ent  at  lower  cost,"  this 
lower  cost  brought  about  "by  intense  competition."  The  market  master  is  paid  $2,200 
per  annum;  total  expenses  in  1911  were  $19,000  and  total  receipts  $63,000.  The  stalls 
in  the  main  building  are  rented  at  $80  to  $150  per  year,  those  not  in  main  building 
renting  for  $60  to  $150  per  year.  There  are  556  booths  in  all.  During  the  producing 
season  from  500  to  600  farmers  use  the  markets  daily  and  sell  from  wagons.  The 
commission  men  act  in  a  friendly  manner  toward  the  market;  outside  goods  are 
shipped  in  by  various  dealers  in  the  market.    To  each  farmer  a  6-foot  wagon  space 


68 


is  allowed;  single  wagons  are  charged  15  cents  a  day;  teams  25  cents  a  day.  Their 
space  is  reserved  daily  until  7  a.  m.  If  at  that  time  they  are  not  on  the  market  the 
space  is  rented  to  a  huckster.  The  booth  holders  in  the  brick  building  take  out  a 
yearly  lease,  payable  quarterly,  in  advance.  The  rent  is  fixed  by  the  Board  of  Alder- 
men through  its  market  committee  and  superintendent  of  markets.  The  main  building 
is  open  at  4.30  a.  m.  from  April  1  to  November  1,  and  from  5.30  from  November  1  to 
April  1.  Only  such  lines  are  allowed  to  be  sold  on  the  market  as  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  and  the  superintendent  of  markets  agree  to.  The  main  market  building 
closes  at  2.30  p.  m.  Booth  holders  along  streets  are  open  until  4  or  6  p.  m.  Besides 
the  booths  in  the  main  market  building,  the  booths  contiguous  to  the  streets  and  space 
for  farmers,  there  are  hucksters  who  do  business  at  tables.  Weekly  tickets  are  issued 
to  them  payable  in  advance.  The  charge  varies  from  $1  to  $2  per  week.  Besides  the 
superintendent  of  markets  there  are  two  clerks  at  each  market  for  collecting,  at 
salaries  of  $1,100  per  year;  two  sweepers  at  $2  per  day,  and  a  lady  caretaker  at  $360 
per  year. 

Burlington,  Iowa 

Fifteen  years  ago  the  public  market  in  Burlingt  m  was  abandoned  through  lack  of 
interest,  and  the  building  was  later  used  as  a  fire  station  and  finally  was  torn  down  and 
replaced  with  a  modern  fire  station.  Recently  labor  interests  in  this  city  procured  a 
market  ordinance,  but  have  gone  no  further  in  the  mairter,  the  presumption  being  that 
they  have  been  unable  to  secure  agreements  from  the  growers  to  bring  their  produce 
to  the  market. 

Calgary,  Alberta 

The  market  at  Calgary  has  been  in  operation  only  since  February,  1912.  It  is  owned 
by  the  municipality  and  is  governed  by  rules  and  regulations  issued  by  the  City  Council. 
The  salary  of  the  market  master  is  $840  per  annum.  A  rental  of  $25  per  month 
is  charged  for  the  booths,  of  which  there  are  24.  About  75  farmers  patronize  the 
market  at  a  time,  and  shipments,  consisting  principally  of  potatoes  and  vegetables,  are 
received  from  other  communities.  There  is  no  apparent  opposition  from  commission 
men  and  produce  dealers.  Very  little  effort  is  made  to  keep  down  prices.  Hucksters 
are  permitted  in  the  market  and  those  who,  together  with  some  of  the  farmers,  dis- 
play their  goods  on  ^  table  or  stand  pay  a  fee  of  15  cents  per  diem.  Calgary  is  one 
of  the  new  cities  of  the  Canadian  West,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  completion  of 
several  hundreds  of  miles  of  interurban  railways  in  the  country  surrounding  the  city 
will  place  the  market  on  a  better  basis,  as  these  lines  will  be  of  great  assistance  in 
bringing  the  farmers'  produce  from  a  distance. 

Cleveland,  Ohio 

There  are  three  markets  owned  by  the  city  and  one  owned  by  a  private  corporation 
in  Cleveland,  all  of  them  well  patronized  by  the  public.  The  increase  in  custom,  how- 
ever, has  not  been  in  proportion  to  the  increase  in  population.  The  following  data 
applies  to  the  municipal  markets.  The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $1,800  per 
year.  The  annual  expenses  are  $13,550  for  the  past  year,  in  which  amount  no  allow- 
ance is  made  for  taxes,  depreciation  or  interest  on  the  investment.  These  expenses 
include  labor,  supervision,  cleaning,  fuel,  light,  repairs,  etc.  The  three  markets 
furnish  a  total  of  about  500  booths,  with  unlimited  curb  space  for  farmers.  The 
booths  rent  for  from  $60  to  $200  yearly,  according  to  location.  About  1,100  farmers  are 
allotted  7  feet  at  curb  in  the  market  district  at  a  rental  of  $10  per  year.  Renters  of 
the  stalls  in  the  market  houses  receive  shipments  from  other  communities,  and  whole- 
sale dealers  are  friendly  to  the  market.    Competition  between  the  500  renters  of  stalls 


69 


and  the  fact  of  their  having  but  a  low  rent  to  pay,  together  with  no  charge  for 
telephones  and  no  delivery  service,  keeps  down  the  prices. 

Cleveland  boasts  of  having  the  handsomest  market  house  in  the  world,  its  doors 
having  been  thrown  open  in  early  November,  1912,  this  West  Side  market  taking  the 
place  of  the  one  which  has  served  for  half  a  century.  Its  cost  was  $500,000,  exclusive 
of  the  site,  which  cost  $180,000.  There  are  110  stalls;  three  aisles  of  meat  dealers 
occupy  the  stalls  in  the  center  of  the  floor,  while  butter,  egg,  and  poultry  dealers  are 
allotted  the  stands  along  the  side  walls.  The  fish  market  is  in  the  northeast  end  of 
the  building,  and  the  grocery  department  is  just  across  the  floor.  All  stands  are 
uniform  as  to  size  and  equipment.  The  stands  are  of  enameled  brick  with  marble 
counters.  The  floors  inside  the  stands  are  cement,  while  the  aisles  are  of  tile.  The 
entire  building  is  lined  with  white  tile. 

None  of  the  stalls  has  telephones,  it  being  the  belief  that  the  use  of  telephones 
would  tend  toward  costly  delivery  and  credits. 

The  shed  for  fruit  and  vegetable  dealers  will  adjoin  the  main  building,  and  will 
not  be  complete  until  spring  of  1913. 

Champaign,  III. 

The  public  market  in  Champaign  is  owned  by  the  city,  and  the  rules  and  regulations 
under  which  it  is  operated  are  governed  by  city  ordinance.  The  market  building  and 
stalls  were  erected  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  There  are  fifteen  stalls,  for  which 
is  charged  a  rental  of  15  cents  per  diem.  Temporary  sheds  may  be  built  on  certain 
adjacent  parking,  and  for  these  stalls  a  daily  charge  of  25  cents  is  made.  The  number 
of  farmers  using  the  market  varies  from  half  a  dozen  to  all  that  can  be  accommodated. 
Commission  men  and  produce  dealers  are  friendly  toward  the  market;  two  of  the 
most  prominent  grocers  in  town  worked  for  it.  No  shipments  are  received  from  other 
communities  outside  the  county.  Prices  are  kept  down  by  its  being  an  open  market 
and  subject  to  bargain  hunting.  The  people  of  the  city  appreciate  the  opportunity  to 
buy  direct  from  the  producer.  " 

Chester,  Pa. 

The  little  city  of  Chester  has  a  public  market  owned  by  a  privately  organized  com- 
pany and  regulated  by  this  company.  The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $100  per 
annum,  and  the  other  expenses  consist  of  interest  on  the  investment,  taxes,  and  general 
maintenance.  There  is  a  license  charge  made  of  $1.00  per  week  for  each  booth,  and 
in  the  market  there  are  100  booths.  The  market  is  used  at  the  present  time  by  about 
20  farmers,  and  reports  from  Chester  are  to  the  effect  that  the  commission  men  are 
opposed  to  the  market. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

The  public  markets  of  Cincinnati  number  four,  all  owned  by  the  city,  the  rules 
and  regulations  being  governed  by  ordinances  passed  by  the  City  Council.  The  annual 
expenses  of  $12,000  per  annum  include  the  salary  of  the  market  master,  which  is 
$900,  and  repairs  to  market  houses,  heat,  light,  and  miscellaneous  expenses.  Inside 
stalls,  which  are  occupied  by  the  butchers,  butter  vendors,  etc.,  bring  a  yearly  rental 
of  $100,  and  a  yearly  payment  of  $15  entitles  the  payer  to  a  stand  6  feet  wide  on 
the  curb.  A  certain  amount  of  space  is  set  aside  for  farmers  and  truck  gardeners, 
and  they  may  occupy  this  space  free  of  charge.  Approximately  500  farmers  use  these 
markets.  Commission  men  and  produce  dealers  do  not  clash  with  the  markets,  and, 
during  the  season,  commission  men  receive  shipments  of  fruits  from  other  com- 
munities at  the  market  houses.    The  success  of  the  Cincinnati  public  markets  is  un- 


70 


questioned,  the  city  receiving  an  average  net  income  from  them  amounting  to  $1,000 
yearly,  and  they  make  it  possible  to  place  all  foodstuffs  before  the  class  of  people  who 
need  them  most. 

Columbus,  Ohio 

There  are  four  public  markets  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  all  owned  and  operated  by  the 
city.  They  are  the  Central  Market,  148  stalls  and  stands;  North  Market,  237  stalls 
and  stands ;  East  Market,  139  stalls  and  stands ;  West  Market,  81  stalls  and  stands. 
They  are  used  for  various  kinds  of  business — meat,  butter,  eggs,  cheese,  bakery  prod- 
ucts, hominy,  fruits,  and  vegetables,  fish,  honey,  flowers,  poultry.  The  number  of 
people  employed  is  over  2,000.  Receipts  from  all  markets  in  1911  were  $28,998  and 
expenses  were  $16,183.  The  commission  men  are  friendly  to  the  market,  but  attention 
is  also  called  to  the  fact  that  commission  men  occupy  the  booths,  and  that  there  are 
only  16  curb  stands  for  farmers.  The  report  from  Columbus  says  that  the  lowering 
of  prices  by  the  market  is  "not  perceptible." 

Dayton,  Ohio 

There  are  three  successful  markets  in  Dayton,  one  owned  by  private  individuals 
and  two  owned  by  the  city.  Two  of  these  m.arkets  being  in  the  downtown  district, 
the  market  days  are  divided,  the  older  market  being  open  on  Tuesdays,  Tliursdays, 
and  Saturdays ;  and  the  other,  known  as  the  Wayne  Avenue  Market,  being  open  on 
Mondays,  Wednesdays,  and  Fridays  from  5  to  10.30  a.  m.  The  older  of  these  two 
market  houses  was  erected  almost  40  years  ago  and  has  had  no  recent  improvements. 
Its  vegetable  stalls  are  rented  for  $100  per  year  and  the  butcher  stalls  for  $250  per 
year.  The  Wayne  Avenue  Building  is  a  recently  completed  structure  costing  $35,000, 
and  the  stalls  rent  from  $12  to  $20  per  month.  The  downtown  district  also  contains 
eight  or  ten  squares,  where  curb  spaces  are  auctioned  off  in  May  of  each  year  at  prices 
ranging  -from  $15  to  $300  per  year  for  each  space.  The  income  from  these  rentals  is 
approximately  $30,000  each  year,  while  the  expense  approximates  a  total  of  $2,600  a 
year,  making  a  good  profit  to  the  city.  The  Arcade  Market  Building  is  a  model 
market,  having  a  complete  modern  cold  storage  plant  in  the  basement  and  affording 
some  12,000  square  feet  of  cold  storage  space.  It  is  open  from  6  a.  m.  (or  earlier) 
to  6  p.  M.  every  day,  and  until  10  or  11  p.  m.  on  Saturdays.  Vegetable  stalls  are 
rented  for  from  $6.50  to  $8.75  per  month;  butcher  stalls,  from  $35  to  $40,  including 
cold  storage.  There  are  200  stalls  in  this  market,  and  the  annual  rental  receipts 
amount  to  about  $20,000  per  year.  The  public  market  in  Dayton  has  been  established 
since  1815  and  is  patronized  by  all  classes.  Prices  are  slightly  lower  than  those  of 
the  retail  dealers,  and  the  produce  is  always  clean  and  fresh.  The  markets  are  sup- 
plied from  the  immediate  country,  and  no  shipments  from  other  communities  are 
received.    Commission  men  are  friendly. 

Denver,  Col. 

The  market  in  Denver  is  owned  by  the  city,  and  rules  and  regulations  are  adopted 
by  ordinance.  It  is  now  considered  a  success,  though  formerly  it  was  operated  by 
private  parties,  and  failed  to  satisfy  the  gardeners  and  general  producers.  The 
market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $100  per  month,  and,  besides  his  salary,  the  salaries 
of  an  assistant  and  of  one  police  officer  are  paid,  the  cleaning  being  done  by  the 
street  cleaning  department.  A  minimum  rental  of  $2  per  month  is  made  for  booths, 
of  which  there  are  238  under  corrugated  iron  roofs.  A  large  number  of  farmers  use 
the  market  during  the  season,  which  extends  in  Denver  from  May  until  October. 
Commission  men  and  produce  dealers  act  friendly  to  the  market,  which,  however,  does 
not  receive  commodities  from  any  other  community. 


71 


Des  Moines,  Iowa 

The  Des  Moines  public  market  is  owned  by  the  city  and  governed  by  city  ordinance. 
A  new  market  house  is  now  in  course  of  construction,  and,  upon  its  completion  early 
in  1913,  will  afford  76  booths.  During  the  present  season  the  market  has  used  a 
street  space,  and  has  been  patronized  by  30  wagons  in  one  day.  The  annual  expense  of 
the  market  is  estimated  at  $2,000,  of  which  the  market  master  receives  $1,400  as  his 
salary,  and  the  rest  is  absorbed  by  such  miscellaneous  expenses  as  payment  for  extra 
help  and  livery  hire  for  scale  inspection.  Shipments  of  peaches,  apples,  potatoes,  etc., 
in  carload  lots,  are  received  from  other  communities.  The  market  has  had  no  trouble 
with  commission  men,  but  is  considered  eminently  successful  in  eliminating  the  middle 
man  to  a  great  extent.  Prices  are  kept  down  by  competition,  which  is  aided  by  closing 
the  market  promptly  at  1  p.  m. 

Detkoit,  Mich. 

In  Detroit  there  are  two  markets,  both  owned  by  the  municipality.  In  regard  to 
their  success  comes  the  reply:  "Yes,  because  they  have  been  successfully  operated 
for  many  years."  The  market  master  gets  a  salary  of  $900,  and  the  total  expenses  of 
the  two  markets  in  1911  were  $6,474.  Neither  market  is  enclosed,  each  being  nothing 
more  than  a  cement  foundation  with  a  raised  walk,  forming  a  cross  in  the  center  of  a 
square  city  block,  the  walks  being  about  60  feet  in  width,  to  which  all  wagons  back, 
permitting  the  customers  to  pass  around  and  examine  the  products  and  ascertain 
the  prices.  These  walks  are  sheltered  by  roofs.  There  are  no  booths  or  stands. 
In  the  case  of  Detroit,  there  appears  to  be  the  nearest  approach  to  direct  marketing 
from  the  producer  to  the  consumer. 

DuLUTH,  Minn. 

The  market  at  Duluth  is  owned  by  the  city  and  is  regulated  by  the  City  Council.  It 
is  of  recent  establishment,  having  been  opened  in  Duluth  in  the  middle  of  the  year 
1912.  Prospects  are  good,  but  no  authoritative  statement  can  be  made.  The  market 
was  opened  in  the  Armory,  and  small,  covered  booths  are  used  in  two  other  markets. 
In  the  Armory  building,  which  is  known  as  the  Main  Market,  as  many  tables  as  are 
necessary  are  placed,  there  being  eight  at  the  present  time.  At  the  close  of  the 
summer  season  of  1912  about  25  farmers  were  using  the  market  daily.  No  plans  had 
as  yet  been  made  to  receive  shipments  from  other  communities,  the  market  being 
open  principally  for  the  sale  of  locally  produced  commodities. 

Dubuque,  Iowa 

The  market  in  Dubuque  has  been  maintained  for  more  than  50  years,  and  it  is 
patronized  by  all  classes  of  people.  Early  in  the  morning,  particularly  on  Wednesdays 
and  Saturdays,  swarms  of  buyers  may  be  seen  coming  from  all  directions  with  baskets 
and  carts  to  get  first  choice  at  low  cash  prices  of  all  the  goods  displayed.  Wagons 
of  the  country  vendors  of  vegetables,  fruit,  flowers,  poultry,  meats,  butter,  eggs,  etc., 
back  up  near  the  curb  in  front  of  stores  near  the  market  house.  On  the  morning 
when  the  count  was  taken  more  than  300  teams  were  counted  within  ten  minutes,  and 
the  ones  lined  up  against  the  curb  would  have  occupied  more  than  16  linear  city 
blocks.  The  market  house  is  modest  in  character,  but  the  market  is  used  to  the  evi- 
dent satisfaction  of  the  people  in  effecting  economies. 

Fort  Wayne,  Ind. 

Taking  the  place  where  an  old  market  house  stood.  Fort  Wayne  has  constructed  a 
new  building  for  market  purposes,  the  funds  for  this  purpose  having  accumulated 


72 


over  a  period  of  years.  The  building  is  450  feet  long  and  27  feet  wide,  and  is  built 
of  concrete.  The  pavilion  contains  public  toilet  rooms  and  a  smoking  room.  The 
market  teams  back  up  to  the  curb  along  the  house  and  the  purchasers  have  a  passage- 
way from  which  they  may  buy.  Between  the  separating  columns  are  tables  built  of 
concrete,  which  are  used  for  market  purposes.  No  reports  are  obtained  from  Fort 
Wayne  as  to  the  cost  of  occupancy  of  booths  nor  as  to  the  expense  of  operating  the 
market.  • 

Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Grand  Rapids  makes  the  claim  of  having  the  largest  wagon-market  in  the  world, 
not  only  being  self-sustaining  but  a  profit-producer.  It  is  owned  and  operated  by  the 
municipality.  The  market  master  receives  $1,000  per  year,  the  annual  expenses  of 
the  market  being  $4,000.  The  stall  rents  are  from  $5  to  $25,  there  being  760,  of  which 
372  were  rented  in  1912.  Farmers  using  the  market  number  from  100  to  200  per  day, 
paying  a  daily  entry  fee  of  25  cents.  The  commission  men  are  friendly  and  co- 
operate. Goods  are  shipped  in  from  other  localities  during  out-of-season  periods, 
these  being  fruits  and  vegetables.  The  total  annual  income  approximates  $10,000. 
Every  effort  is  made  to  attract,  the  buildings  being  repainted  each  year. 

Greensburg,  Pa. 

The  market  at  Greensburg  is  a  curb  market  operated  under  the  Board  of  Trade, 
the  Secretary  acting  as  market  master  without  additional  salary.  This  market  is  about 
a  block  and  one-half  in  length,  and  is  used  by  an  average  of  25  to  30  farmers.  No 
charge  is  made  for  stands,  and  the  market  has  no  expenses.  It  is  considered  a  success 
in  reducing  the  high  cost  of  living  by  bringing  the  consumer  in  direct  touch  with 
the  producer,  while  the  effort  to  keep  down  prices  by  competition  between  the 
produce  dealers  and  the  producer  is  aided  by  the  formation  of  a  Women's  Marketing 
Club.  Commission  men  and  produce  dealers  are  opposed  to  the  market.  It  does 
not  receive  commodities  from  other  communities. 

Hagerstown,  Md. 

In  Hagerstown  a  successful  market,  well  patronized  by  farmers,  brings  the  city 
a  cash  revenue  of  $2,600  per  year.  The  annual  expenses,  amounting  to  $700,  are  for 
light  and  heat,  in  addition  to  the  market  master's  salary  of  $600.  The  100  booths  in  the 
market  house  may  be  rented  by  the  year  at  from  $5  to  $10,  while  the  farmers  pay 
10  cents  per  day  for  space  if  they  do  not  care  to  rent  stalls.  The  number  of  farmers 
using  the  market  is,  in  the  height  of  the  season,  600  or  700,  while  during  the  cold 
months  and  in  bad  weather  the  number  may  drop  to  as  low  as  six  or  seven. 
Competition  is  encouraged  by  granting  permits  to  a  number  of  persons  to  sell  the 
same  product,  and  then  placing  them  in  adjacent  stalls.  This  is  the  only  method  used 
to  keep  down  prices.  Commission  men  and  produce  dealers  are  friendly  toward  the 
market.  During  the  spring  months  shipments  of  southern  vegetables  are  received  and 
fish  is  shipped  in  during  the  entire  year. 

Hamilton,  Ohio 

Hamilton  has  an  open  market,  operated  under  the  direction  of  the  city.  The  only 
expense  attached  to  this  market  is  the  market  master's  salary  of  $360  per  year.  It 
has  between  150  and  175  booths,  for  the  use  of  which  no  charge  is  made.  Some 
shipments  of  fruit  are  received  from  other  communities,  and  there  is  no  friction 
with  the  commission  men  and  produce  dealers.  As  a  rule,  prices  are  slightly  less  than 
those  of  the  dealers;  and  the  market,  which  is  an  old  institution,  is  well  patronized. 


73 


Hamilton,  Ont. 

The  public  market  of  Hamilton  is  owned  by  the  city,  and  is  governed  by  rules 
and  regulations  issued  by  the  Council  of  the  Corporation  of  the  City.  The  market 
clerk  receives  a  salary  of  $1,900  per  year  and  secures  his  own  help.  In  addition  to 
this  expense  is  that  of  the  caretaker,  who  receives  $720,  and  repairs  amount  to  from 
$300  to  $1,000  annually.  This  market  is  kept  strictly  for  farmers  and  butchers. 
During  the  busy  season  it  is  patronized  by  from  300  to  600  wagons  in  one  day.  No 
shipments  from  other  communities  are  received  and  nothing  is  sold  in  the  market 
except  the  produce  grown  by  the  farmers.  Prices  are  controlled  by  supply  and 
demand. 

Indianapolis,  Ind. 

The  market  of  Indianapolis  is  owned  by  the  city  and  is  considered  by  all  to  be  a 
success,  city  ordinances  governing.  The  annual  expenses  of  the  market  are  $12,500, 
of  which  the  market  master  receives  $1,320,  the  remainder  being  applied  to  an  assistant, 
four  janitors,  two  engineers  and  firemen,  light,  heat,  and  garbage  removal.  The 
rental  charge  for  booths  is  from  $25  to  $150  per  year.  There  are  615  booths  inside 
the  building  and  300  curb  stands  for  farmers,  for  which  a  charge  of  25  cents  per  diem 
is  made.  The  statement  which  the  writer  received  and  the  investigation  which  he  has 
made  show  that  the  commission  men  and  produce  dealers  are  opposed  to  the  market. 
The  market  receives  shipments  of  tropical  fruits  and  vegetables  from  the  South,  and 
every  effort  is  made  to  hold  prices  down  by  competition. 

JoiLET,  III. 

Established  by  the  municipality  and  operated  under  the  direction  of  the  city,  the 
public  market  of  Joilet  started  last  year  under  successful  conditions,  but,  for  reasons 
unknown,  interest  during  the  present  year  has  perceptibly  decreased.  The  chief 
expense  is  the  market  master's  salary  of  $75  per  month.  During  the  summer  season 
25  to  50  wagons  occupy  the  open  market  and  pay  a  charge  of  10  cents  per  wagon, 
while  the  rental  for  winter  quarters  in  a  commodious  one-story  structure,  originally 
built  for  a  skating  rink,  is  according  to  the  space  used.  To  a  limited  extent  shipments 
are  received  consisting  of  fish,  apples,  eggs  and  potatoes.  Commission  men  and 
produce  dealers  are  disposed  to  be  neutral.  Prices  are  kept  down  by  the  encourage- 
ment of  wholesome  competition. 

Kalamazoo,  Mich. 

An  unsuccessful  public  market  is  operated  by  the  city  on  one  of  the  public  streets. 
It  caters  largely  to  the  hucksters  and  small  dealers,  neglecting  the  retail  buyers. 
This  has  led  to  the  formation  of  plans  for  a  market  building,  to  be  operated  by  the 
city,  with  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  retail  consumer.  The  present  market  is 
patronized  by  about  75  farmers  and  truck  gardeners  daily.  It  does  not  receive  ship- 
ments from  outside  communities,  and  makes  no  effort  to  keep  down  prices. 

Kansas  City,  Kans. 

There  is  here  a  public  market  which  is  owned,  however,  by  a  stock  company,  and 
the  rules  and  regulations  are  established  by  this  company.  The  market  may  be 
considered  a  success  when  it  is  stated  that  it  has  paid  to  the  stock  company  four 
6  per  cent,  dividends  in  six  years  and  has  set  aside  $4,000  as  surplus.  The  market 
master  receives  a  salary  of  $480  and  the  annual  expenses  of  the  market,  including 
this  salary,  are  $1,800.  The  market  building  proper  is  occupied  by  wholesale  farmers, 
but  about  75  farmers  gather  each  morning  at  the  curb,  for  which  they  pay  25  cents  per 


74 


morning,  or  from  $9  to  $12  per  season,  for  wagon  space  of  7  feet,  this  latter  payment 
giving  the  farmer  a  regular  place  to  stand.  Commission  men  are  friendly  and  the 
market  receives  shipments  from  other  communities,  principally  fruit,  vegetables,  butter 
and  eggs.    No  attempt  is  made  to  hold  prices  to  a  minimum. 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 

The  public  market  in  Kansas  City  is  owned  by  the  city,  and  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions are  made  by  city  ordinance. 

The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $1,800  per  year,  and  the  annual  expense 
of  the  market  is  $10,000,  which  includes  the  salary  of  the  market  master  and  those  of 
scavenger,  janitors,  matron,  night  watch,  and  the  cost  of  supplies  and  repairs.  About 
2,500  or  3,000  farmers  patronize  the  market,  about  250  of  them  being  present  each 
day.  There  are  140  booths,  for  which  a  rental  of  $2  per  front  foot  per  month  is 
charged,  and  the  farmers  all  pay  the  market  a  fee  of  25  cents  on  each  wagonload  of 
produce  marketed.  Commission  men  and  produce  dealers  are  generally  opposed.  The 
market  receives  shipments  of  fruit  and  vegetables,  and,  while  it  makes  no  direct  at- 
tempt to  keep  down  prices,  they  are  reduced  as  a  result  of  competition. 

Lancaster,  Pa. 

There  are  six  markets  of  a  public  nature  in  Lancaster,  one  being  owned  by  the 
city  and  five  by  private  companies.  The  rules  which  govern  that  owned  by  the  city 
are  used  substantially  by  the  five  private  companies.  The  markets  are  all  considereo 
successes,  as  they  are  paying  properties  for  the  owners.  The  market  masters  receive 
an  average  of  $1  per  day.  Information  of  such  character  was  received  that  an  esti- 
mate cannot  be  made  of  the  annual  expenses  of  the  market,  but  they  consist  of 
the  salary  of  the  market  master,  taxes,  fire  insurance  and  interest  on  the  investment 
The  markets  are  not  open  every  day,  sometimes  opening  two  days  a  week  and  at 
other  times  three  days.  The  booths  are  sold  to  the  hrgliest  bidder,  the  average  price 
being  $15  per  annum  for  use  one  day  each  week.  If  the  market  is  open  two  days 
and  the  booth  is  used  two  days  each  week,  the  price  is  $30.  There  are  about  200 
booths  in  each  of  the  six  markets.  Farmers  rent  the  booths  at  the  regular  price,  some 
making  their  stands  at  one  market  and  some  of  the  farmers  using  more  than  one 
market.  Commission  men  use  the  market  the  same  as  the  farmers,  and  receive 
shipments  of  fruit,  potatoes,  fancy  vegetables  and  fish  from  outside  communities. 

Lethbridge,  Ont. 

Five  years  ago  an  attempt  was  made  to  operate  a  public  market  in  Lethbridge, 
but  it  was  not  a  success,  owing  to  the  competition  of  Chinese  vegetable  peddlers.  Since 
the  abandonment  of  this  market,  however,  the  growth  of  vegetables  and  garden  truck 
has  increased  rapidly  and  drafts  of  plans  for  a  new  market  building  have  been  pre- 
pared, with  a  view  to  the  reestablishment  of  a  public  market. 

Lincoln,  Neb. 

Opposition  on  the  part  of  the  gardeners  at  Lincoln  lias  prevented  the  success 
of  the  curb  market  there.  This  opposition  arose  as  the  result  of  a  misunderstanding 
of  the  purpose  of  the  market,  the  growers  having  gained  the  impression  that  it  would 
favor  the  wholesale  and  retail  dealers  to  the  prejudice  of  the  growers.  This  market  is 
located  on  the  curb  and  no  expense  attaclies,  the  position  of  markot  master  being 
filled  by  one  of  the  sanitary  inspectors  of  the  Board  of  Health.  A  few  of  the  gar- 
deners paid  a  fee  of  $1  for  the  reservation  of  a  certain  space  for  their  use,  but  the 
majority  stationed  themselves  in  any  unused  space  and  paid  no  fee. 


75 


Little  Rock,  Ark. 

A  private  enterprise,  known  as  the  City  Market  &  Arcade  Company,  has  been  or- 
ganized in  Little  Rock,  and  is  at  the  present  time  building  a  market  house  and  arcade 
on  a  block  of  ground  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  The  expenses  of  this  project  will 
amount  to  about  $400,000,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  building  will  be  complete  in  the 
spring  of  1913.    No  further  information  is  at  present  obtainable. 

Louisville,  Ky. 

The  public  market  in  Louisville  is  a  private  stock  company,  known  as  the  Gardeners' 
and  Farmers'  Market  Company,  90  per  cent,  of  the  stock  of  which  is  owned  by  truck 
farmers  around  Louisville.  The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $1,500  per  annum. 
No  report  could  be  obtained  from  the  company  as  to  the  annual  expense  and  the 
analysis  of  this  expense.  Unlike  many  markets,  the  prices  of  booths  are  not  set, 
but  the  booths  are  sold  at  auction  each  year.  There  are  between  500  and  600  booths. 
Between  300  and  400  farmers  use  the  market  daily,  and  from  all  appearances  the 
commission  men  and  produce  dealers  are  friendly  to  the  market,  which  receives  no 
shipments  from  other  communities. 

Madison,  Wis. 

The  city  of  Madison  opened  a  public  market  in  1911  in  a  building  measuring  130 
by  75  feet,  and  provided  with  wash  rooms,  toilet  rooms,  tables  for  luncheon,  smoking 
rooms,  etc.  Madison  had  been  practically  in  the  hands  of  the  provision  merchants 
and  commission  men,  and  an  effort  was  made  by  circularization  of  farmers  to  break 
the  hold  which  the  local  dealers  had.  The  response  was  a  large  one,  and  to-day 
Madison  is  enjoying  a  direct  trade  between  producer  and  consumer.  The  market 
is  open  from  7  a.  m.  until  6  p.  m.  every  day  except  Sunday.  The  charge  per  day  for 
space  is  25  cents.  In  cases  where  hay  or  wood  is  sold  the  weight  or  measure  must 
be  certified  by  an  official  of  the  city,  and  a  certificate  must  be  given,  which  costs  10 
cents.  Wagons  for  the  sale  of  produce  are  prohibited  the  use  of  public  streets  or 
alleys  away  from  the  market  place.  Wisconsin  produce  cannot  be  sold  in  the  market 
by  any  other  person  than  the  producer. 

Memphis,  Tenn. 

The  public  market  of  Memphis  is  owned  by  the  city  and  the  rules  and  regulations 
are  governed  by  ordinance.  It  is  a  well-patronized  market  and  the  receipts  pay  all 
expenses  and  leave  a  surplus  to  the  city.  The  annual  expenses  of  the  market  are 
$6,300,  being  divided  as  follows :  Interest  on  bonded  debt,  $3,000 ;  market  master 
and  janitor,  $1,680,  of  which  the  market  master  receives  $1,200;  light,  $1,200;  miscel- 
laneous, $420.  There  is  a  regular  charge  of  $12.50  per  month  for  booths,  of  which 
there  are  30.  Farmers  to  the  number  of  300  to  400  use  the  market,  taking  stands  in  the 
market  yard  and  selling  to  the  consumer  and  to  hucksters.  Commission  men  are 
deemed  to  be  friendly,  as  they  buy  from  the  farmers  and  very  often  sell  to  the  huck- 
sters.   The  market  receives  no  shipments  from  other  communities. 

Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Many  years  ago  a  large  market  was  maintained  in  this  city,  but  with  changing 
conditions  it  became  unpopular  and  was  finally  abandoned.  Lately  a  Market  Commis- 
sion has  been  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  with  a  view  to  establishing  several  markets 
throughout  the  city.     Certain  sites  have  been  selected   for  this  purpose,  but  the 


76 


project  is  not  sufficiently  advanced  to  furnish  any  data.  The  object  of  establishing 
these  markets  is  to  bring  food  products  that  are  raised  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  city  more  directly  to  the  consumer,  and  thus  decrease  the  cost  of  living. 

Montgomery,  Ala. 

Montgomery,  the  capital  of  Alabama,  has  a  public  market  which  was  closed 
several  years  ago  and  is  lying  idle  and  vacant.  Its  abandonment  was  due  to  the 
growing  tendency  to  patronize  hucksters  and  street  peddlers,  the  public  not  coming  to 
the  market.  This  market  occupies  the  entire  ground  floor  of  the  City  Hall,  which 
covers  half  a  block. 

Nashville,  Tenn. 

The  city  of  Nashville  owns  the  public  market  in  that  city  and  it  is  regulated  by  city 
ordinance.  The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $80  per  month.  The  rental 
for  the  booths  in  this  market,  of  which  there  are  ISO,  is  $125  per  year.  Farmers  sell 
their  produce  from  their  wagons  around  the  market,  and  several  commission  men  have 
wholesale  stalls  in  the  market  house.  Some  shipments  are  received  from  other  com- 
munities. Prices  in  Nashville  are  reasonable,  and  it  is  considered  that  the  market 
acts  as  a  regulator  of  the  prices  of  foodstuffs. 

New  Orleans,  La. 

New  Orleans  has  had  a  public  market  since  the  first  year  of  the  19th  century. 
The  market  house  was  ruined  by  a  hurricane  and  rebuilt  in  1812.  One  after  another 
was  built  until  to-day  there  are  23  markets  owned  by  the  city  and  11  privately  owned 
through  franchise  from  the  city,  by  virtue  of  which  franchise  they  will  revert  to  the 
city  in  a  period  of  years.  New  Orleans  is  surrounded  by  a  large  area  of  market 
gardens,  which  supply  fresh  vegetables  and  fruits  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  The 
existence  of  two  large  public  abattoirs  allows  the  selling  of  meat  without  large 
investment,  as  a  stall  may  be  rented  for  50  cents  per  day,  and  a  butcher  may  have  his 
cattle  killed  by  payment  of  $1.00  per  head  to  the  abattoir,  this  price  including  storage 
for  ten  days.  The  price  for  stalls  (meat  and  vegetable)  is  50  cents  per  diem;  fish  and 
game  stalls  rent  at  15  cents  per  diem,  and  fruit  stalls  at  2  cents  per  square  foot. 
Markets  are  open  from  dawn  to  noon,  after  which  cleaning  is  done.  Peddlers  are 
allowed  license,  but  cannot  operate  until  after  noon. 

There  is  much  agitation  about  selling  the  markets,  instead  of  issuing  bonds  to 
build  new  ones  to  take  the  place  of  old ;  but  this  agitation  is  being  stoutly  opposed 
by  those  who  fear  the  "meat  trust."  The  estimated  revenue  for  1912  from  the  markets 
is  $190,000,  but  no  definite  reports  were  received  on  expense. 

Newark,  N.  J. 

There  is  a  public  market  in  Newark  which  is  owned  and  operated  by  the  city, 
ordinances  being  adopted  for  the  purpose.  It  is  considered  a  success,  both  from  the 
viewpoint  of  "living  cost"  and  the  returns  to  the  municipal  government.  The  market 
master  is  paid  $2,400,  the  total  expense  account  being  about  $23,000.  Against  this 
there  showed  receipts  in  1909  of  $53,251,  in  1910  of  $57,820,  and  in  1911  of  $57,304.  The 
expense  sheet  consists  of  salaries,  light,  heat,  garbage  disposal,  and  maintenance. 
There  are  125  booths.  There  are  three  "market  days"  per  week,  at  which  times  there 
are  about  300  farmers  ready  to  sell.  All  reports  show  commission  men  to  be 
friendly.  The  market  sells  no  produce  from  other  communities  or  sections  of  the 
country. 


77 


New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  no  public  market  in  New  Brunswick,  but  local  business 
men  are  now  incorporating  a  company  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  market,  one 
of  the  purposes  of  which  will  be  to  keep  down  the  prices  of  food. 

New  York  City 

For  description  of  New  York's  public  markets  see  Report,  Section  VII. 

Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y. 

The  public  market  in  this  city  is  owned  by  the  municipality.  It  draws  from  a 
rich  fruit  and  vegetable-producing  country  surrounding  the  city,  and  receives  ship- 
ments of  these  products  from  country  within  20  miles  in  radius.  The  market  master 
receives  a  salary  of  $70  per  month.  The  annual  expenses  amount  to  $1,000,  and 
include  the  salary  of  market  clerk  and  supplies.  This  is  a  curb  market.  A  charge 
is  made  of  15  cents  for  double  teams  and  10  cents  for  single  teams  each  day  they 
use  the  market,  which  is  open  on  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays.  About  ISO 
farmers  patronize  this  market.  Commission  men  are  friendly,  and  no  attempt  is 
made  to  keep  down  prices. 

Norfolk,  Va. 

The  market  here  is  owned  by  the  city  and  operated  under  rules  and  regulations 
provided  by  city  ordinance.  The  total  annual  expenses  are  $2,611,  of  which  the  market 
master  receives  $1,200,  the  remainder  being  for  repairs,  salaries  and  miscellaneous 
expenses.  The  income  from  rentals  amounts  to  $17,011.  The  number  of  farmers 
who  use  this  market  varies  according  to  the  season  and  the  weather.  They  pay  10 
cents  per  diem  for  space  for  a  single  wagon  and  15  cents  for  a  double  wagon, 
hucksters  being  charged  at  the  rate  of  25  cents  per  diem.  Commission  men  and 
produce  dealers  are  friendly  to  the  market.  Individual  dealers  in  the  market  receive 
shipments  of  fruits  and  vegetables,  which  vary  according  to  the  season.  No  attempt 
is  made  to  keep  down  prices.    This  market  is  not  considered  a  success. 

NORRISTOWN,  Pa. 

The  borough  of  Norristown  owns  the  public  market  of  that  city,  which  is  oper- 
ated under  rules  laid  down  by  the  borough.  The  market  is  open  three  days  each 
week:  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays,  the  hours  of  sale  being  from  3  a.  m.  to 
11. A.  M.  on  every  market  day,  and  also  from  4  to  9  p.  m.  every  Saturday.  The  market 
master  receives  a  salary  of  $480  per  year.  The  annual  expenses  amount  to  $840,  which 
includes  the  salary  of  the  market  master  and  necessary  repairs.  A  rental  of  $15  and 
$25  is  charged  for  booths,  of  which  there  are  156.  The  market  purchases  shipments 
of  meats  and  produce  from  other  communities.  It  has  no  trouble  with  commission 
men  and  produce  dealers.  No  record  is  furnished  of  the  number  of  farmers  using  the 
market.  It  is  not  considered  as  successful  as  it  formerly  was,  and  this  is  believed  to 
be  due  to  the  establishment  of  stores  throughout  the  borough. 

Oklahoma  City,  Okla. 

Oklahoma  City  has  received  much  publicity  in  the  latter  months  of  1912,  owing 
to  its  establishment  of  a  city  market  which  consists  of  stalls  along  one  of  the  widest 
streets.  This  open  market  was  established  May  21,  and  80  stalls  were  occupied.  By 
the  middle  of  August  the  number  of  stalls  in  use  was  318,  these  extending  along 
three  blocks  of  the  street.    The  people  of  Oklahoma  City  argue  that  the  wonderful 


78 


success  of  the  street  market  indicates  the  need  of  a  market  house  wherein  products 
such  as  meat,  fish,  butter,  eggs,  pouUry,  vegetables,  and  fruits  may  be  sold.  Okla- 
homa City  is  to-day  experiencing  the  same  feeling  that  has  existed  in  all  of  the  cities 
where  markets  were  opened;  that  is,  the  importance  of  direct  contact  of  producer 
and  consumer,  and  it  behooves  Oklahoma  City  to  see  that  the  middleman  and  the 
huckster  do  not  crowd  the  producer  out  of  the  selling  market. 

Omaha,  Neb. 

At  one  time  the  city  of  Omaha  had  a  public  market  building,  but,  as  the  market 
was  not  a  success,  this  building  was  torn  down,  and  at  the  present  time  the  market  is 
located  on  a  vacant  lot,  where  stalls  have  been  erected  by  the  city.  There  are  140 
of  these  stalls,  for  which  a  charge  of  10  cents  per  day  is  made.  The  market  is  owned 
by  the  city,  and  is  patronized  by  from  90  to  125  farmers,  who  sell  direct  to  dealers 
and  peddlers.  The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $1,200  per  year.  The  annual 
expenses  of  the  market  are  $1,250,  which  includes  the  market  master's  salary  and 
the  expenses  of  printing.  Commission  men  are  not  opposed  to  the  market,  which 
does  not  receive  shipments  from  other  communities  and  does  not  attempt  to  keep 
prices  down. 

Ottawa,  Ont. 

A  successful  public  market  has  existed  in  Ottawa  fur  25  years  under  the  ownership 
and  government  of  the  municipality.  It  has  proven  a  most  economic  feature  in  the 
cost  of  living  and  in  providing  pure  food.  The  market  inspector  receives  a  salary  of 
$1,400  per  year.  Nine  collectors,  weighman,  etc.,  receive  $700  per  year.  A  market 
fee  of  10  cents  is  charged  for  articles  brought  to  the  market  place  in  a  vehicle 
drawn  by  two  horses ;  upon  articles  brought  by  a  vehicle  drawn  by  one  horse,  5  cents ; 
upon  articles  brought  by  hand  or  in  a  basket  or  vessel,  2  cents.  A  fee  of  10  cents  is 
charged  for  each  horse,  mare  or  gelding  brought  to  the  market  for  sale;  5  cents  for 
each  head  of  horned  cattle;  2  cents  for  each  sheep,  calf,  or  swine.  This  fee  is  col- 
lected immediately  upon  the  articles  being  exposed  for  sale.  Hucksters,  grocers, 
butchers  and  wholesalers  are  not  permitted  to  purchase  before  the  hour  of  8.30  a.  m. 
any  of  those  articles  for  family  use  that  are  in  demand  by  the  consumer. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Whether  the  public  market  is  passing  out  of  Philadelphia  or  is  merely  undergoing 
a  transition  is  a  moot  question  there.  In  that  city  the  municipally  owned  markets  are 
known  as  "sheds,"  and  of  the  markets  which  have  been  operating  in  recent  years  but 
two  remain.  They  are  directed  by  the  Department  of  Public  Works,  the  annual  ex- 
pense being  $1,550  for  upkeep  and  salary  of  clerk.  From  $6  to  $60  per  year  is  the 
rental  charge. 

In  October,  1912,  two  of  the  public  markets  were  transformed  into  motion  picture 
houses,  while  others  of  the  privately  owned  market  houses  are  undergoing  repairs 
now  and  then  which  are  intended  to  make  the  places  more  sanitary. 

An  effort  is  being  made  by  the  authorities  of  Philadelphia  to  bring  the  producer 
and  consumer  closer  together,  the  first  effort  being  developed  in  a  pamphlet  entitled 
"A  Study  on  Trolley  Light  Freight  Service  and  Philadelphia  Markets."  This  pamphlet 
throws  some  new  light  on  the  question  of  markets,  and  will  illuminate  many  of  the 
dark  corners  of  this  important  subject. 

The  privately  owned  market  houses  number  21  and  have  an  assessed  valuation  of 
about  $2,000,000.  There  is  quite  rapidly  developing  a  demand  for  the  old-style  curb 
market,  where  the  producer  might  sell  direct  to  the  consumer,  for  such  ideal  market- 


79 


ing  does  not  exist  to-day,  all  bartering  being  done  between  the  consumer  and  a 
middleman. 

Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

The  public  market  in  Pittsburgh  is  owned  by  the  municipality,  and  its  rules  and 
regulations  are  established  by  ordinance.  The  city  operates  three  markets,  but  the 
data  herein  given  concern  the  central  one,  or  what  is  known  as  the  Diamond  Market. 
The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $1,500  per  annum,  besides  which  there  are 
expenses  to  the  extent  of  $16,100,  making  a  total  of  $17,600,  which  includes  salaries 
and  labor,  materials  and  supplies,  fixtures  and  repairs  for  the  buildings.  These  ex- 
penses cover  all  three  markets.  The  rental  charge  for  the  booths  is  from  $216.50  to 
$591.25  per  annum,  depending  on  the  location.  There  are  194  booths,  besides  which  25 
farmers  have  permanent  stands  for  the  sale  of  their  own  produce.  It  might  be 
stated  here  that  besides  these  25  farmers,  between  100  and  200  farmers  use  the  second 
story  of  this  market  on  Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays  for  the  sale  of  their 
goods.  The  space  on  this  floor  is  set  aside  exclusively  for  farmers,  and  no  charge  is 
made.  Shipments  from  other  communities  are  received,  these  being  principally  fruit, 
vegetables,  fish  and  oysters,  and  every  attempt  is  made  by  the  city  to  encourage 
competition  and  thus  hold  prices  down.  Pittsburgh  also  operates  the  market  on  the 
Monongahela  Wharf,  at  which  the  farmers  sell  their  produce  both  at  wholesale  and 
retail. 

Portsmouth,  Va. 

The  public  market  of  Portsmouth  is  owned  by  the  city,  and  is  governed  by  city 
ordinance  and  rules  laid  down  by  the  city  council.  The  market  master  receives  a 
salary  of  $50  per  month,  and  his  assistant  receives  $30  per  month.  The  additional 
expenses  are  estimated  at  $350  per  annum,  and  include  repairs,  changes  and  incidentals. 
The  market  contains  20  booths,  and  the  hucksters'  shed  contains  24,  a  total  of  44. 
Rental  for  booths  in  the  m.arket  is  graded  according  to  location,  the  highest  price 
being  $12.50  per  quarter.  Probably  30  to  50  farmers  use  the  market,  selling  from 
market  carts  and  paying  10  cents  per  day  for  the  privilege.  Fruits,  vegetables,  and 
poultry  are  received  from  other  communities.  There  is  not  known  to  be  any  opposi- 
tion on  the  part  of  commission  men  and  produce  dealers.  The  market,  however,  is  not 
successful,  owing  to  the  fact  that  most  of  the  housekeepers  prefer  to  buy  at  the 
convenient  and  attractive  private  markets,  tea  stores,  and  green  grocers  nearer  the 
residence  portion  of  the  city. 

Raleigh,  N.  C. 

Though  the  market  in  Raleigh  is  an  old  one,  an  investigation  leads  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  market  system  has  proved  satisfactory  here,  and  the  city  is  planning 
to  put  up  a  new  building.  The  present  market  is  owned  by  the  city  and  has  a  revenue 
of  $5,000  per  year.  The  salary  of  the  market  master  is  $75  per  month.  The  annual 
expenses  of  the  market  are  calculated  at  $1,300.  There  is  no  debt  on  the  building, 
for  it  was  built  in  1870  and  the  debt  was  paid  off  twenty  years  ago.  Rentals  charged 
for  the  booths  in  this  market  vary  from  $8  to  $28  per  month,  and  there  are  at  this 
time  21  booths  occupied.  Farmers  use  the  market  without  restriction,  placing  their 
wagons  outside,  for  which  there  is  no  charge,  and  they  have  the  right  to  sell  anything 
they  produce.  Commission  men  are  found  to  be  entirely  friendly  to  the  market,  which 
also  receives  commodities  from  other  communities,  these  being  principally  meats, 
fish,  oysters,  game,  and  vegetables.    There  is  no  attempt  made  to  hold  prices  down. 


80 


St.  John,  N.  B. 

The  Common  Council  of  St.  John  issues  rules  and  regulations  to  govern  the 
public  market  of  that  city,  it  being  under  municipal  ownership.  These  regulations 
provide  that  no  person  may  purchase  at  the  market  with  intent  to  resell  any  article 
that  has  not  been  exposed  for  sale  at  least  three  hours  between  sunrise  and  sunset 
on  a  market  day,  thus  giving  the  consumers  a  chance  to  make  their  purchases  direct 
from  the  producers.  The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $800  per  year.  The 
annual  expenses  are  about  $14,000,  and  include  the  market  master's  salary,  repairs, 
light,  heat,  insurance,  water  rates,  interest,  and  sinking  fund.  There  are  43  com- 
mission stands  and  18  butcher  stalls,  for  all  of  which  a  rental  is  charged.  It  is  a 
country  market  only  and  farmers  come  from  a  long  distance  as  well  as  from  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  city.  Commission  men  and  produce  dealers  act  friendly. 
Prices  are  governed  by  other  city  prices. 

St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

The  public  market  of  St.  Joseph  is  owned  by  the  city,  and  regulations  are  adopted 
by  the  City  Council.  The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $780  per  annum  and  the 
additional  expenses  make  the  total  $880.  A  regular  rental  is  charged  for  the  20 
booths  and  200  curb  permits,  the  total  fees  being  jibout  $3,000  per  annum.  As  shown 
in  the  statement  concerning  curb  permits,  about  200  farmers  use  the  market.  Com- 
mission men  act  friendly  to  the  market,  purchasing  the  surplus  after  market  hours, 
which  are  from  dawn  until  10  a.  m.  during  the  months  of  April  to  September,  and 
until  11  A.  M.  from  October  to  March;  and  the  market  is  open  from  4  to  8  p.  m.  on 
Saturdays.  The  market  master  announces  the  closing  of  the  market  house  by  ringing 
a  bell  ten  minutes  before  closing  time. 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

In  St.  Louis  there  are  four  markets,  owned  by  the  municipality.  They  are  looked 
upon  as  successes  "in  a  moderate  degree,  as  they  offer  a  large  selection  at  slightly 
lower  prices  than  groceries  and  meat  markets."  At  the  Central  Market  the  master 
receives  $1,000  per  year,  while  the  other  market  masters  get  $65  per  month.  Expenses 
at  Central  Market  are  $7,000  per  year,  while  the  income  is  $50,000.  Farmers  sell  at 
only  two  of  the  markets,  and  commission  men  are  said  to  be  friendly,  probably  due 
to  the  fact  that  they  run  the  market  stalls  and  booths. 

St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Because  it  furnishes  a  well-patronized  central  point  for  the  assembling  and  sale 
of  produce,  the  public  market  of  St.  Paul  is  considered  a  success.  It  is  owned  and 
operated  by  the  city,  paying  a  salary  of  $1,000  to  the  market  master,  and  having  other 
expenses  of  $4,000,  being  for  the  sealer  of  weights  and  measures,  watchman,  janitors, 
heat,  lights,  team  hire,  etc.  There  are  12  booths  and  300  stalls,  the  rent  varying  with 
size  and  location,  the  average  in  1912  being  $15.80.  Many  farmers  use  the  market,  and 
the  commission  men  are  friendly.  Very  seldom  are  shipments  brought  in,  but  they 
consist  of  apples  and  potatoes  when  they  are  made. 

San  Antonio,  Tex. 

There  are  in  San  Antonio  botli  the  market  house  and  a  "market  plaza"  where  the 
producer  meets  and  deals  with  the  consumer.  The  market  house  is  120  by  225  feet, 
with  58  booths  on  the  lower  floor  and  a  hall  with  seating  capacity  of  4,000  on  the 
second  floor.    In  order  to  build  the  place  the  citizens  of  the  neighborhood  raised 


81 


one-half  and  the  city  paid  the  remainder,  the  building  having  been  erected  about  15 
years  ago.  The  booth  charge  is  $10.  The  house  is  self-sustaining,  having  monthly 
expenses  of  $350.  Street  vendors  have  to  pay  a  heavy  license,  thus  forcing  the 
people  to  the  green  grocer  or  the  market.  In  the  booths  are  found  16  butchers, 
who  handle  meats  killed  at  home  and  some  foreign  meat. 

The  market  plaza  is  the  curb  market,  where  farmers  drive  into  a  great  square 
enclosure,  at  no  cost,  and  of¥er  their  goods.  To  this  market  go  people  of  every 
class,  on  foot,  in  buggies,  and  in  automobiles.  At  marketing  time  in  the  plaza  prices 
are  about  65  per  cent,  of  those  asked  by  green  grocers.  The  market  master  is,  in 
reality,  as  in  most  cities,  merely  the  boss  of  the  janitor.  Every  attempt  is  made  to 
make  the  market  place  sanitary.  Just  now  there  is  agitation  to  place  a  roof  over 
the  great  open  space  known  as  "market  plaza,"  which  lies  just  to  the  west  of  the 
market  house. 

Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

A  public  market,  owned  by  the  city,  has  recently  been  opened,  but  as  yet  no  data 
are  obtainable  concerning  buildings  or  management.  The  plans,  however,  include 
numerous  arc  lights,  feeding  sheds,  watering  troughs,  comfort  stations,  etc.,  and  an 
effort  will  be  made  to  establish  a  completely  up-to-date  market. 

Seattle,  Wash. 

The  public  market  in  Seattle  is  owned  by  the  city,  with  large  auxiliary  adjoining 
markets  owned  by  private  parties.  There  are  about  250  booths  in  this  market,  for 
which  a  charge  is  made  of  10  cents  per  diem.  During  the  winter  months  about  50 
farmers  use  the  markets,  and  this  number  increases  to  250  in  mid-summer.  The 
market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $110  per  month.  The  annual  expenses  of  the 
market  are  about  $3,900,  being  divided  as  follows:  Interest,  $600;  market  master, 
$1,320;  janitor,  $720;  and  inspector,  $1,320.  Commission  men  and  produce  dealers 
at  first  opposed  the  market,  but  at  present  they  regard  it  with  apparent  indifference. 
The  natural  competition  engendered  by  the  establishment  of  the  market  keeps  down 
prices  throughout  the  city  retail  stores.  Larger  stocks  and  greater  variety  are  sup- 
plied by  the  market,  although  no  commodities  are  received  from  other  communities. 

The  Westlake  Public  Market  in  Seattle  is  owned  by  a  private  corporation.  The 
annual  expense  is  $40,000,  made  up  of  advertising,  free  delivery,  janitor's  services, 
light,  water,  refrigeration,  etc.  No  rental  is  charged  for  permanent  booths  inside  the 
market  house,  but  on  the  curb  the  charge  is  20  cents  per  diem  for  each  table.  There 
are  about  100  booths  and  the  market  is  patronized  by  about  100  farmers,  who  consign 
their  goods  to  dealers  or  sell  directly  to  the  consumer.  Commission  men  and  produce 
dealers  act  friendly  toward  the  market,  which  receives  shipments  of  fruit  and  vege- 
tables from  other  communities.  Prices  are  kept  down  by  competition.  The  market 
is  considered  a  success  because  of  the  large  volume  of  business  and  the  large  number 
of  satisfied  customers. 

Sherbrooke,  Que. 

The  public  market  in  Sherbrooke  is  owned  by  the  municipality  and  is  governed  by 
rules  and  regulations  passed  upon  by  the  Municipal  Council.  It  has  proven  a  source 
of  revenue  to  the  city,  and  a  benefit  to  both  the  farmers  and  the  consumers.  The 
annual  expenses  amount  to  about  $900,  including  cleaning,  printing,  and  general  repairs. 
The  market  clerk  also  acts  as  City  Collector,  and  $200  of  his  salary  is  charged  to  the 
market.  The  average  number  of  farmers  who  use  the  market  once  a  week,  on  Satur- 
days, is  125.  A  small  rental  is  charged  for  booths.  Commission  men  and  produce 
dealers  are  friendly.    Shipments  of  farm  produce  are  received  from  adjoining  counties. 


82 


No  attempt  is  made  to  keep  down  prices.  As  a  protection  to  the  consumer  it  is  pro- 
vided that  no  trader,  grocer,  huckster,  butcher,  or  dealer  in  provisions  shall  buy  any 
of  the  articles  required  for  family  use  which  are  brought  to  the  market  for  sale 
until  after  the  hour  of  10  A.  m. 

South  Bend,  Ind. 

In  South  Bend  a  curb  market  on  one  of  the  wide  concrete  bridges  was  established 
about  one  year  ago.  It  is  open  from  early  morning  till  noon  on  three  days  each 
week,  and  is  used  by  an  average  of  75  farmers  and  market  gardeners,  who  back  their 
wagons  against  the  sidewalk  on  the  bridge.  During  inclement  weather  a  building 
adjacent  to  the  bridge  is  used  as  a  market  house,  the  merchants  of  the  vicinity  con- 
tributing the  funds  to  fit  this  building  with  stalls,  for  the  use  of  which  no  charge  is 
made.  No  charge  for  space  on  the  curb  is  made,  and  the  market  is  conducted  with 
very  few  rules  or  restrictions.  The  position  of  market  master  is  filled  by  the  City 
Sealer.  In  the  beginning  a  highly  organized  peddling  system,  which  had  grown  up 
through  the  lack  of  a  market,  attempted  to  handicap  the  market  by  buying  out  the 
farmers  at  wholesale  prices  and  selling  the  stock  at  higher  prices  than  would  other- 
wise have  prevailed.  The  market  adopted  rules  which,  for  a  time,  forced  the  peddlers 
entirely  from  the  market,  but  at  present  they  are  allowed  at  the  market,  subject  to 
certain  conditions.  The  market  is  considered  a  success  in  the  way  of  opening  a 
larger  field  for  the  truck  gardeners  and  reducing  prices  to  the  consumer.  No  com- 
modities are  received  from  other  communities,  with  the  exception  of  fish. 

Spokane,  Wash. 

Spokane  has  two  markets,  owned  by  private  parties,  the  stalls  of  which  are  sold 
at  auction  each  year.  The  streets  in  front  are  divided  into  plots  by  the  city  and  the 
market  inspector  is  in  charge,  renting  the  street  spaces  at  a  small  fee — barely  suffi- 
cient to  pay  his  salary.  Reports  are  that  retail  merchants  oppose  the  markets.  Farmers 
used  the  markets  at  the  beginning,  but  failed  to  make  their  wares  attractive,  and 
hucksters — both  American  and  Chinese — realizing  that  the  housewife  prefers  a  neat 
package  and  clean  vegetables,  have  succeeded  in  driving  the  farmer  out  of  the  selling 
market. 

Springfield,  Mass. 

The  nearest  approach  to  a  public  market  in  Springfield  is  what  is  termed  a  "mar- 
ket square,"  owned  by  a  wholesaler  of  fruits  and  produce  who  has  invited  the  farmers 
to  come  there  and  sell  their  produce,  turning  their  surplus  into  his  hands.  The  use 
of  the  "square"  is  free.  No  idea  of  the  success  of  the  plan  can  yet  be  expressed 
because  of  its  youth. 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

The  city  owns  the  public  market  of  Syracuse,  which,  in  1911,  furnished  an  income 
of  $7,987.  The  annual  expense  is  $300,  the  market  master  receiving  $1,000  a  year;  of 
the  remainder  $2,100  is  applied  to  salaries  and  $600  to  supplies  and  repairs.  The  struc- 
ture, which  goes  under  the  name  of  the  market  building,  is  occupied  by  small  store- 
keepers, who  are  not  allowed  to  sell  the  commodities  which  are  sold  by  the  farmers. 
The  latter  station  themselves  in  an  open  square  in  front  of  the  market  building,  where 
a  fee  of  25  cents  is  charged  for  a  double  team,  15  cents  for  a  single  team,  and  5 
cents  for  selling  from  a  basket.  A  charge  of  25  cents  is  made  for  weighing  a  load 
of  hay.  The  market  is  not  sufficiently  extensive  to  interfere  with  dealers,  and  has 
met  with  no  opposition  from  them.    At  the  present  time  there  is  a  sentiment  in  favor 


83 


of  establishing  a  larger  market,  but  it  has  not  yet  grown  to  such  proportions  as  to 
induce  action. 

TiLLSONBURG,  ONT. 

There  is  no  public  market  in  Tillsonburg  at  present.  On  two  or  three  different  oc- 
casions a  market  has  been  established,  but  it  is  believed  that  the  merchants  of  the 
city  conspired  to  defeat  its  success,  both  by  arriving  at  an  early  hour  and  buying 
all  the  produce  offered  and  by  deliberately  under-selling  the  farmers,  who  in  time 
became  discouraged  and  ceased  to  bring  their  produce  to  town. 

Toledo,  Ohio 

The  public  market  of  Toledo  is  used  almost  exclusively  by  wholesale  houses  which 
buy  in  large  quantities  direct  from  the  gardeners  and  truck  farmers,  hucksters  and  re- 
tail dealers  also  purchasing  to  some  considerable  extent.  The  market  master  receives 
a  salary  of  $720  a  year.  In  1911  the  total  expense  of  the  market  amounted  to  $2,096, 
which  included  the  market  master's  salary  and  the  amounts  paid  to  laborers  for 
cleaning.  There  are  about  200  stalls  in  the  market,  erected  at  a  cost  of  about  $120,- 
000,  these  stalls  being  auctioned  off  at  the  beginning  of  the  season.  A  charge  of  25 
cents  per  diem  is  made  for  every  wagon  standing  outside  the  private  stalls.  This 
market  is  considered  a  success,  having  in  1911  paid  the  city  a  profit  of  several  thou- 
sand dollars.  Plans  are  now  being  formed  to  establish  retail  markets  in  Toledo,  with 
the  object  of  obtaining  lower  prices. 

Toronto,  Ont. 

The  city  of  Toronto  owns  the  public  market,  which  is  governed  by  rules  and 
regulations  passed  upon  by  the  Municipal  Council.  The  annual  expenses  are  approxi- 
mately $10,000,  consisting  chiefly  of  salaries.  The  market  is  in  charge  of  a  foreman, 
who  receives  a  salary  of  $17  per  week.  No  rental  is  charged  to  farmers  for  the  use 
of  the  market.  About  125  farmers  display  their  goods  for  sale  on  Saturday,  which 
is  the  main  market  day.  Commission  men  and  produce  dealers  are  neutral.  The 
market  receives  shipments  from  other  communities,  and  prices  are  regulated  according 
to  demand. 

Traverse  City,  Mich. 

The  public  market  of  Traverse  City,  Mich.,  consists  of  a  scale  house  and  a  maple 
tree.  The  buyers,  who  are  commission  men,  sit  beneath  the  tree  and  bargain  for  the 
farm  products  as  they  are  brought  to  be  weighed.  There  is  a  master,  who  receives 
$50  a  month,  while  light,  caretaker's  salary,  fuel  and  telephone  run  the  expense  to 
$1,035  per  year.    No  licenses  or  rentals  are  charged. 

Washington,  Pa. 

Thirty  years  ago  the  operation  of  a  public  market  in  Washington  was  abandoned. 
During  the  summer  of  1912  an  experimental  curb  market  has  been  operated  under 
the  management  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  with  the  idea  of  learning  if  a  permanent 
market  is  needed.  This  experiment  has  been  most  satisfactorily  concluded.  The 
market  was  so  well  patronized  that  real  estate  men  of  the  city  have  now  leased  a 
large  building  to  be  used  for  this  purpose.  All  the  stalls  in  this  new  market  have 
been  rented  for  the  year  at  a  charge  of  $5  each.  Up  to  the  time  of  compiling  this 
article  no  rules  and  regulations  have  been  issued,  and  no  market  master  appointed. 
The  farmers  in  the  vicinity  seem  highly  pleased  with  the  facilities  furnished  them  to 
assist  in  the  disposition  of  their  produce,  and  the  establishment  of  the  market  has 
been  accorded  public  approval ;  in  fact,  it  is  decidedly  popular. 


Watertown,  N.  Y. 

A  public  curb  market,  on  a  lot  rented  by  the  city,  was  opened  late  in  the  season 
of  1912.  There  is  no  market  master  as  yet  and  no  expense,  the  rent  being  merely  a 
nominal  sum.  Only  a  few  farmers  have  used  the  market  for  displaying  their  produce, 
but  it  is  believed  that  in  the  spring  of  1913  their  number  will  be  largely  increased  and 
the  success  of  the  market  assured.  This  market  receives  no  outside  shipments  and 
is  favored  by  the  commission  men.  Prices  are  lower  than  those  of  the  retailers, 
owing  to  the  elimination  of  the  middleman. 

Wheeling,  W.  Va. 

A  new  market  house  and  auditorium  combined  is  being  erected  in  Wheeling  and 
is  almost  completed.  Details  as  to  management,  expenses,  etc.,  are  not  yet  obtainable. 
The  old  market,  in  the  same  location,  was  for  many  years  a  source  of  small  revenue 
to  the  city,  which  owns  the  ground  on  which  the  market  stands,  the  grant  from  the 
original  owners  providing  that  the  land  shall  be  used  for  no  other  purpose.  The 
new  market  is  to  be  operated  by  a  stock  company  formed  under  the  Board  of  Trade, 
which  holds  the  franchise,  and  in  conjunction  with  the  city  of  Wheeling. 

Wichita,  Kan. 

Under  the  commission  form  of  government  Wichita  operates  a  successful  public 
market,  which  is  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Commissioner  in  charge  of  public 
parks,  playgrounds  and  health.  The  market  place  is  adjacent  to  the  large  gathering 
place  known  as  the  Forum,  and  i.«  150  by  300  feet  in  dimensions,  paved  and  temporarily 
roofed,  with  a  frontage  of  permanent  buildings,  devoted  to  offices,  restaurants,  fruit 
stalls,  etc.  The  entire  space  will  be  permanently  enclosed  within  a  short  time.  It  is 
the  intention  of  the  municipality  to  acquire  the  entire  block  in  which  the  Forum  and 
the  market  place  are  located,  and  to  use  it  for  additional  civic  purposes  of  exposition 
and  fairs  of  various  kinds.  The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $75  per  month. 
The  other  expenses  of  the  market  are  $4  per  month  for  light,  $8  per  month  for 
water,  and  $12  per  month  for  garbage  removal.  There  are  ten  booths,  for  which  a 
rental  of  $5  is  charged;  250  farmers  use  the  market,  which  also  receives  shipments  of 
vegetables  and  fruit  from  other  communities.  The  commission  men  and  produce 
dealers  are  opposed.  Prices  are  kept  down  by  considering  the  standpoint  of  the  con- 
sumer.   This  market  has  been  a  paying  proposition  from  the  beginning. 

Zanesville,  Ohio 

The  market  of  Zanesville  is  considered  a  money  maker  for  the  town,  and  plans 
are  being  worked  out  for  a  new  market  place.  The  present  one  is  owned  by  the  city 
and  its  rules  and  regulations  are  made  by  city  ordinance.  Permission  is  given  to 
truck  gardeners  to  sell  direct  without  peddling,  and  the  rent  of  the  booths  or  stall 
gives  the  city  a  substantial  revenue.  The  market  master  receives  a  salary  of  $720, 
and  the  total  expenses,  including  this  salary,  are  estimated  at  $1,075,  the  expense 
beyond  the  market  master's  salary  being  janitor's  service,  light,  heat,  and  incidentals. 
The  rental  charged  for  booths  is  $4.50  per  quarter,  and  there  are  at  the  present  time 
70  booths  occupied.  Sixty  of  these  booths  are  used  by  farmers,  who  sell  their 
produce  direct  to  the  consumer.  Commission  men  are  friendly  to  the  market,  which 
does  not  receive  shipments  from  other  communities,  but  sells  only  what  is  locally 
produced.   General  market  prices  govern,  and  there  is  no  attempt  to  hold  down  prices. 


VI.   FOREIGN  MARKETS 


By  Mrs.  Elmer  Black 
The  British  Isles 

London  has  features  that  render  it  comparable  in  a  peculiar  degree  with  New 
York.  The  population  of  both,  including  their  outer  ring  of  suburbs,  is  over  five 
millions.  In  each  case  there  is  access  to  the  open  sea  by  means  of  a  waterway  over 
which  passes  the  commerce  of  the  seven  seas.  Railroads  supplement  the  water-borne 
cargoes  with  home-grown  produce. 

London's  markets  do  not  afford  the  unbroken  example  of  municipal  control  that 
they  would  if  a  new  system  were  to  be  created  at  the  present  day.  Precedent  looms 
large  in  British  administration  and  even  now  there  are  only  two  ways  of  establishing  a 
market — by  Parliamentary  authority  and  Royal  Charter.  King  Henry  III  covenanted 
by  charter  with  the  City  of  London  not  to  grant  permission  to  anyone  else  to  set 
up  a  market  within  a  radius  of  seven  miles  of  the  Guildhall,  and  this  privilege  was 
subsequently  confirmed  by  a  charter  granted  by  Edward  III  in  1326.  But  of  late 
years  the  City  Corporation  has  waived  its  rights  and  allowed  markets  to  be  established 
in  various  districts  wherever  a  real  necessity  has  been  shown  to  exist  In  fact,  the 
markets  of  London  have  grown  with  the  city,  keeping  pace  with  its  requirements. 

There  remains,  however,  the  fact  that  certain  Corporation  markets  and  Covent 
Garden  market  serve  as  great  wholesale  terminals,  connected  more  or  less  unofficially 
with  the  numerous  local  m.arkets  in  the  outlying  districts. 

Chief  among  the  Corporation  markets  is  Smithfield,  covering  about  eight  acres, 
and  costing  altogether  $1,940,000.  There  are  to  be  found  wholesale  meat,  poultry, 
and  provision  markets,  with  sections  for  the  sale,  wholesale  and  retail,  of  vegetables 
and  fish.  In  the  last  twenty  years  the  development  of  cold  storage  processes  has 
lowered  the  quantity  of  home-killed  meat  and  remarkably  increased  the  im- 
portation of  refrigerated  supplies.  Last  year  the  wholesale  market  disposed  of  433,- 
723  tons  of  meat,  of  which  77.2  per  cent,  came  from  overseas. 

Ten  years  ago  the  United  States  supplied  41  per  cent,  of  the  Smithfield  meat, 
but  now  these  supplies  have  fallen  off  enormously  and  the  last  report  of  the  Markets 
Committee  says:  "The  United  States,  in  particular  for  domestic  needs,  is  within 
measurable  distance  of  becoming  a  competitor  with  England  for  the  output  of  South 
America."  South  America  and  Australasia  are,  indeed,  the  chief  producers  to-day  for 
the  British  market. 

This  has  developed  a  great  cold  storage  business  in  London.  All  told,  London  can 
accommodate  3,032,000  carcasses  of  mutton,  reckoning  each  carcass  at  36  pounds. 
Over  41  per  cent,  of  England's  imported  meat  passes  through  Smithfield,  and  railroad 
access  is  arranged  to  the  heart  of  the  market.  The  Great  Northern  Railway  Com- 
pany has  a  lease  from  the  corporation  on  100,000  feet  of  basement  works  under  the 
meat  market,  with  hydraulic  lifts  to  the  level  of  the  market  hall,  and  inclined  road- 
ways for  vehicular  traffic. 

Most  of  the  tenants  at  Smithfield  are  commission  salesmen,  who  pay  weekly  rents 
for  their  shops  and  stalls  at  space  rates,  all  the  fittings  being  supplied.  Last  year 
these  rents  brought  in  $427,920.    There  is  a  toll  of  a  farthing  on  every  21  pounds  of 


86 


meat  sold,  which,  together  with  cold  storage,  weighing,  and  other  charges,  amounted 
in  the  same  period  to  $241,635.  The  meat  sales  are  entirely  wholesale,  except  on 
Saturday  afternoons,  when  there  is  a  retail  "People's  Market,"  where  thousands  of 
the  very  poor  buy  cheap  joints. 

The  inspection  is  very  strict,  every  precaution  is  taken  to  ensure  cleanliness,  and 
breaches  of  the  regulations  are  punished  by  fines  or  imprisonment.  All  condemned 
carcasses  are  sent  to  a  patent  Podewill  destructor  to  be  reduced  by  steam  pressure  and 
rolling  to  a  powder,  which  is  disposed  of  as  an  agricultural  fertilizer. 

On  these  central  meat  markets  there  is  a  profit  of  about  $100,000. 

The  Corporation  also  controls  a  great  live  cattle  market  at  Islington,  covering 
seventy-five  acres.  Over  $2,500,000  have  been  spent  on  this  market  and  the  modern 
slaughterhouses  attached  thereto.  These  slaughterhouses  are  not  regarded  as  a  re- 
munerative concern,  but  are  provided  because  they  afford  hygienic  methods,  and 
private  slaughterhouses  in  London  are  decreasing  rapidly.  Last  year  37,670  cattle, 
101,646  sheep,  11,722  calves,  and  34,981  swine  were  slaughtered  there,  the  charges 
being  36  cents  a  head  for  cattle,  4  cents  for  sheep,  8  cents  for  calves,  and  12  cents 
for  hogs.  Mainly  on  account  of  the  extensions  and  improvements,  this  market  is  not 
being  run  at  a  profit  at  present,  but  its  public  utility  is  held  to  justify  the  outlay. 
Nor  does  the  Deptford  cattle  market,  of  thirty  acres,  maintained  on  the  banks  of 
the  Thames  to  deal  with  live  cattle  imported  from  abroad,  pay  its  way.  But  there 
has  been  a  serious  decline  in  imported  stock  in  late  years,  especially  from  America. 
At  this  market  extreme  precautions  are  taken  to  prevent  the  entry  of  cattle  disease 
that  might  spread  infection  to  British  flocks  and  herds.  All  animals  landed  there 
must  be  slaughtered  within  ten  days  and  submitted  to  rigid  inspection.  All  hides  and 
offal  are  immediately  disinfected.  Five  hundred  cattle  can  be  unloaded  from  vessels 
at  Deptford  in  twenty  minutes.  Last  year  104,351  animals  were  killed,  the  meat  being 
sent  for  sale  to  Smithfield  and  Whitechapel. 

Billingsgate,  the  famous  fish  market  of  London,  is  also  administered  by  the  Cor- 
poration. Its  records  cover  over  six  hundred  years.  It  is  hampered  by  narrow  street 
approaches,  but  a  very  expeditious  system  of  direct  delivery  of  fish  from  the  Thames 
side  of  the  market  building  enables  the  licensed  auctioneers  to  dispose  of  supplies  very 
quickly.  Steam  carriers  collect  the  fish  from  the  fleets  around  the  coast  and  deliver 
them  packed  in  ice  at  Billingsgate  every  night.  Billingsgate  market  has  cost  the  city 
$1,600,000.  Stand  prices  are  high,  but  there  is  keen  competition  whenever  a  vacancy 
occurs.  Last  year  the  receipts  amounted  to  $182,455.  The  auctioneers  dealt  with 
194,477  tons  of  fish,  of  which  120,905  were  water-borne  and  73,572  land-borne.  The 
City  profited  to  the  extent  of  over  $40,000  on  this  fish  trade. 

On  the  wholesale  and  retail  meat,  fruit,  vegetable,  and  fish  market  at  Leadenhall 
there  is  also  a  profit  of  over  $5,000. 

On  the  entire  municipal  market  enterprises  of  the  city  there  is  a  profit  of  $156,000. 
The  markets  are  regarded  with  especial  interest  by  the  Corporation,  and  the  Committee 
which  regulates  them  is  considered  one  of  the  most  important  in  the  whole  administra- 
tion of  the  city.  In  order  to  keep  abreast  of  the  times  most  of  the  profit  is  expended 
on  improvements  and  extensions. 

Covent  Garden,  London's  great  fruit,  flower,  and  vegetable  market,  is  owned  by 
the  Duke  of  Bedford,  whose  family  have  held  it  for  hundreds  of  years.  In  the  past 
century  they  have  spent  $730,000  on  extensions  and  improvements.  Of  the  present 
modern  buildings,  the  fruit  hall  cost  $170,000  and  the  flower  building  $243,000. 
Formerly  the  producers  were  chiefly  concerned  in  the  market,  holding  their  stands 
at  a  yearly  rental.  But  with  the  expansion  of  London  the  growers  have  gradually 
given  place  to  dealers  and  commission  men,  who  pay  twenty-five  cents  a  day  per 
square  foot  of  space,  and  on  the  produce,  at  a  regular  scale,  according  to  its  nature. 
On  flowers  there  is  no  toll,  but  each  stand  holder  pays  a  fixed  rental.    Though  this 


87 


market  has  direct  access  neither  to  river  nor  railroad,  it  still  retains  its  premier  posi- 
tion among  the  wholesale  markets  of  England.  As  the  approaches  are  extremely 
narrow,  most  of  the  produce  has  to  be  carried  on  the  heads  of  hundreds  of  porters 
from  the  wagons  outside  into  the  market  buildings.  As  it  is  under  private  owner- 
ship, no  figures  are  issued,  but  there  is  known  to  be  a  huge  profit  on  the  market.  For 
outer  London  there  are  fruit  and  vegetable  markets  at  Stratford  in  the  east,  Kew  in 
the  west,  the  Borough  in  the  south,  and  two  railroad  markets  in  the  north. 

Birmingham,  England's  chief  midland  city,  has  owned  its  markets  since  1824, 
administering  them  through  a  markets  and  fairs  committee.  Since  1908  the  profits 
have  been  somewhat  reduced,  owing  to  outlay  on  improvements  and  extensions ;  but, 
although  the  city  has  expended  $2,156,362  on  the  markets,  the  profits  have  paid  off 
more  than  half  of  that  indebtedness,  besides  relieving  taxation  in  other  directions. 

Not  far  away  is  the  small  city  of  Kidderminster,  that  may  be  mentioned  as 
affording  a  demonstration  of  provincial  municipal  enterprise,  under  more  restricted 
conditions.  On  its  vegetable  market  it  makes  a  proiit  of  $i,ooo,  and  on  its  butter 
market  a  proiit  of  $1,500.  The  population  of  the  city  is  only  25,000.  Another  mid- 
land city,  Wolverhampton,  makes  a  proiit  of  nearly  $20,000. 

Liverpool,  the  great  northern  port  on  the  Mersey,  has  spent  $1,242,534  on  six 
municipal  markets.  The  only  market  to  lose  money  is  the  cattle  market,  which  shows 
a  deficit  of  $8,000.  Liverpool  has  a  cold  storage  capacity  for  2,176,000  carcasses.  On 
the  whole  municipal  market  enterprise,  in  this  city  of  700,000  people,  there  is  an 
average  annual  proiit  of  $80,000. 

Manchester  serves  not  only  its  own  area  but  surrounding  industrial  centers,  with 
a  total  population  of  nearly  8,000,000.  There  are  twelve  markets  and  four  slaughter- 
houses. Since  1868  the  city  has  benefited  by  their  administration  to  the  extent  of 
$3,250,000  profit. 

Next  to  that  of  London,  the  fish  market  here  is  the  largest  in  England.  Its  annual 
profit  is  well  over  $10,000,  in  addition  to  heavy  extension  payments  in  late  years. 

Dublin,  the  capital  of  what  is  often  called  "the  distressful  isle,"  makes  a  proiit  of 
$14,000  on  the  food  market  and  $12,000  more  on  the  cattle  market,  while  Edinburgh, 
Scotland's  chief  city,  makes  about  $15,000  a  year  on  municipal  markets. 

Statistics  are  available  of  something  like  150  other  British  towns  and  cities,  rang- 
ing from  a  population  of  5,000  upwards,  where  there  is  the  conviction  born  of  ex- 
perience that  municipal  markets  pay  not  merely  in  profits,  but  in  convenience  to  the 
community,  and  they  have  a  powerful  influence  in  keeping  prices  down. 

Germany 

Perhaps  more  than  any  other  country  in  the  world  Germany  places  reliance  on 
municipal  markets,  because  of  the  peculiar  pressure  of  the  problem  of  the  high  cost 
of  living  in  the  cities  there.  On  several  occasions,  during  the  last  twelve  months,  the 
butchers'  stalls  have  been  raided  by  women  in  protest  against  the  10  per  cent,  increase 
in  one  year  on  the  price  of  meat.  And  when,  to  meet  the  clamor,  the  government 
reduced  the  hitherto  prohibitive  import  duties  on  meat  by  one-half  and  the  inland 
railroad  charges  by  one-third,  it  was  on  condition  that  the  meat  brought  in  should 
be  for  delivery  to  municipal  markets  or  cooperative  societies  only.  The  result  has 
been  an  immediate  fall  in  retail  prices  ranging  up  to  50  per  cent. 

Berlin's  two  million  people  since  1886  have  had  a  splendid  terminal  market  on  the 
Alexanderplatz,  consisting  of  two  great  adjoining  halls,  with  direct  access  to  the  city 
railroad.  One  of  these  halls  is  entirely  wholesale,  while  the  other  is  partly  whole- 
sale and  partly  retail.  Meat,  fish,  fruit,  and  vegetables  are  dealt  with  under  the  same 
roof  by  upwards  of  2,000  producers  and  dealers. 

The  whole  market  cost  $7,250,000,  of  which  $1,920,711  was  for  the  main  market 


88 


and  $4,852,862  was  for  the  slaughterhouses,  which  are  most  elaborately  equipped  to 
ensure  sanitation  and  cleanliness.  Great  as  the  market  is,  the  pressure  of  business 
has  grown  so  much  that  a  project  is  on  foot  to  construct  more  accommodation  at  a 
cost  of  $15,000,000.  The  market  is  maintained  by  stand  rentals  and  administrative 
charges  and  by  a  fund  established  for  the  improvement  and  extension  of  the  system. 
On  the  entire  enterprise,  when  all  charges  have  been  met  and  interest  paid,  there  is  a 
profit  of  over  $135,000  a  year. 

A  committee  of  eleven,  partly  city  councillors  and  partly  selected  representatives 
of  the  public,  administer  the  markets,  with  ninety-three  officials  to  ensure  the  carrying 
out  of  their  orders.  The  regulations  are  most  elaborate,  especially  as  regards  the 
inspection  of  foods,  which  is  conducted  by  a  department  having  a  staff  of  six  hundred. 

A  healthy  competition  is  created  by  the  system  of  sales,  which  may  be  conducted 
by  the  producer  himself,  or  through  an  approved  wholesale  dealer,  or  through  one  of 
the  six  municipal  sales  commissioners.  These  municipal  sales  commissioners  have  to 
give  bonds  on  appointment  and  are  not  allowed  to  have  any  interest  in  the  trade  of 
the  market  beyond  a  small  percentage  on  sales.  Producers  living  at  a  distance  can 
have  their  business  carried  through  by  them  under  conditions  so  well  understood  and 
respected  as  to  ensure  confidence.  Though  the  municipal  sales  commissioners  handle 
less  than  a  quarter  of  the  sales,  they  nevertheless  act  as  a  check  on  the  private  dealers, 
especially  as  they  issue  a  regular  report  on  the  average  wholesale  prices.  Moreover, 
the  purchasers  benefit  by  these  market  arrangements,  for  if  they  buy  from  a  regularly 
authorized  dealer  they  can  file  a  claim  with  the  administration  if  the  supplies  delivered 
are  faulty  and  if  their  case  is  proved  the  account  will  be  rectified. 

About  fifty  railroad  car  loads  can  be  handled  at  once  at  the  market,  but  when  ex- 
tended accommodation  is  provided  it  is  intended  to  deal  with  two  hundred  carloads 
simultaneously.  On  supplies  thus  delivered  a  railroad  tax  is  collected  from  the  re- 
ceivers for  maintaining  rail  connections,  and  this  yields  an  annual  profit  of  $11,000. 

Of  the  stand  holders,  nine-tenths  are  monthly  tenants,  and  the  remainder  pay  by 
the  day.  The  highest  charge  is  9.5  cents  per  square  meter  a  day  for  meat  stalls.  The 
fish  sold  comes  mainly  from  Geestemunde,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Weser,  and  is  sold 
under  the  strictest  conditions,  only  a  small  commission  being  allowed  to  be  added  by 
the  dealers. 

The  slaughterhouses  deal  with  800  wagons  daily  and  for  the  use  of  the  butchers 
and  the  market  generally  2,000  cubic  meters  of  distilled  water  are  produced  every 
day,  valued  at  four  cents  the  square  meter.  Eight  thousand  pipes  conduct  the  water 
to  every  part  of  the  market.  To  ensure  cleanliness,  bathrooms  and  rooms  for  drying 
clothes  are  established  for  the  use  of  the  butchers,  who  are  charged  two  and  a  half 
cents  a  bath.  In  inspecting  the  carcasses  the  veterinaries  take  the  most  minute  pre- 
cautions. From  every  animal  four  samples  are  taken,  at  different  parts  of  the  body, 
and  each  of  these  samples  is  submitted  to  tests  for  twenty  minutes. 

In  an  average  year  14,000  carcasses  are  condemned  and  destroyed,  as  well  as 
400,000  diseased  parts.  Whenever  possible  the  inspectors  cut  away  diseased  portions, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  carcass,  after  being  sterilized,  is  sent  to  the  markets  known 
as  the  Freibank,  for  sale  to  the  very  poor.  This  proportion  is  not  so  startling  when 
it  is  considered  that  something  like  two  million  animals  are  slaughtered  every  year,  of 
which  more  than  half  are  pigs.  Until  recently  Germany  used  to  export  a  large  num- 
ber of  prime  animals  to  the  London  market,  but  the  demands  of  home  consumers  now 
prevent  this  and  the  export  trade  has  practically  ceased.  In  fact  Germany,  in  common 
with  the  rest  of  Europe,  is  now  competing  for  the  world's  refrigerated  supplies. 

Storm  doors  and  windbreaks  are  provided  at  the  entrances  to  the  markets  and 
wagons  are  only  allowed  inside  at  certain  hours  and  through  specified  doorways. 
Thus  there  is  an  absence  of  dust,  and  a  carefully  arranged  series  of  windows  ensure 
ample  ventilation.    All  dealers  have  to  unpack  their  stock  at  least  once  every  seven 


89 


days,  for  the  destruction  of  unsound  articles.  All  supplies  of  unripe  fruit,  horseflesh, 
and  artificial  butter  have  to  carry  labels  disclosing  their  real  nature.  Attached  to  the 
market  is  a  hospital  with  skilled  attendance,  for  cases  of  sickness  or  injury  happen- 
ing on  the  market  premises. 

As  in  most  other  centers,  the  establishment  of  the  market  led  to  the  peddlers 
entering  into  outside  competition.  They  bought  their  supplies  wholesale  inside,  and 
then  offered  them  cheaply  outside,  free  from  stand  rentals  and  other  charges.  This 
menace  to  the  prosperity  of  the  market  grew  so  great  that  the  peddlers'  traffic  in  ad- 
jacent streets  was  prohibited  and  strictly  limited  elsewhere.  This  measure,  in  fact, 
is  deemed  essential  in  every  city  where  municipal  markets  are  conducted  successfully. 

Cologne  completed  a  million  dollar  market  in  1904,  with  a  cold  storage  plant  and 
connections  with  the  state  and  narrow  gauge  railways.  Nearly  half  the  space  is  taken 
up  by  wholesale  dealers  in  fruit  and  vegetables. 

The  chief  fault  of  the  market  is  the  remoteness  from  the  center  of  the  town.  At 
first  it  had  a  great  success  but,  on  this  account,  it  has  not  been  entirely  maintained. 
Encouraged  by  that  initial  prosperity,  the  city  authorities  bought  a  nearer  site,  but 
the  subsequent  decrease  in  the  market's  popularity  has  caused  the  postponement  of 
extensions.  Though  the  market  does  not  pay  the  5  per  cent,  on  capital  that  is  re- 
quired, the  present  administration,  even  with  its  drawbacks,  does  succeed  in  making 
a  profit  of  about  3  per  cent,  on  the  capital  invested,  last  year's  income  amounting  to 
$535,200. 

Hamburg  is  peculiarly  situated  as  to  its  market  conditions.  The  market  halls  of 
Hamburg  and  Altona  adjoin,  but  while  the  former  is  under  the  control  of  the  Ham- 
burg senate,  the  latter  is  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  Prussian  government  and  admin- 
istered by  the  Altona  city  authorities.  Each  has  a  large  hall,  with  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  space  used  for  auctions.  The  senate  of  Hamburg  appoints  two  auctioneers 
and  Altona  one;  but,  while  the  latter  is  a  salaried  official,  the  former  are  two  Ham- 
burg auctioneers  approved  by  the  government  for  the  special  market  business,  on 
undertaking  not  to  trade  on  their  own  account.  ■  The  trade  of  the  chief  market  is  in 
fish.  With  the  Altona  market,  the  Hamburg  market  and  the  Geestemunde  market,  the 
sales  in  this  section  of  Germany  are  the  most  important  in  the  Fatherland  for  fresh 
sea  fish  and  salted  herrings.  About  a  fourth  comes  in  fishing  cutters  or  steam  trawl- 
ers direct  alongside  the  market  halls,  while  the  remaining  three-fourths  come  from 
Denmark  by  rail  or  by  ships  from  England,  Scotland,  and  Norway.  Often  there  are 
three  or  four  special  fish  trains  from  the  north  in  a  day,  while  twenty-five  to  thirty 
steamers  bring  the  regular  supply  of  imported  fish. 

The  auctioneers  derive  their  revenue  from  a  4  per  cent,  charge  on  sales  of  the 
cargoes  of  German  fishing  vessels  and  5  per  cent,  on  imported  supplies.  Out  of  this 
they  pay  half  of  1  per  cent,  to  the  government  on  the  German  and  1  per  cent,  on  the 
foreign  sales.  No  fees  are  charged  to  importers  and  dealers  using  the  auction  section 
of  the  fish  market.  Out  of  the  percentage  paid  to  the  government  by  the  auctioneers 
is  provided  light  and  water,  the  cleansing  of  the  halls,  and  the  carting  away  of  refuse 
for  destruction.  Strict  regulations  govern  the  inspection  of  the  fish  and  to  ensure 
the  destruction  of  those  that  have  deteriorated  they  are  sprinkled  with  petroleum  im- 
mediately on  detection. 

Steam  fishing  boats  using  the  market  quays  pay  48  cents  for  24  hours'  use,  sea- 
going sailing  cutters  24  cents,  river  sailing  cutters  6  cents,  and  small  boats  3  cents, 
in  which  charges  the  use  of  electric  and  other  hoists  is  included. 

From  these  markets  almost  the  whole  of  Germany  receives  its  sea  fish  supplies, 
for  the  distribution  of  which  most  of  the  leading  dealers  have  branch  houses  in  the 
principal  cities. 

There  are  also  two  markets— one  in  Hamburg  and  one  in  Altona— for  the  sale  of 
farm  produce,  mostly  transported  thither  by  boats.    Besides  these,  there  is  a  big 


90 


auction  for  imported  fruit,  conducted  by  private  firms.  All  these  Hamburg  markets 
are  prosperous,  and  their  utility  to  the  community  is  universally  acknowledged. 

Frankfort's  market  system  dates  back  to  1879,  when  the  first  hall  was  erected  at  a 
cost  of  $375,000.  It  has  548  stands  on  the  main  floor  renting  at  $1.08  per  two  square 
meters  a  month,  payable  in  advance,  while  there  is  space  for  347  more  in  the  gal- 
leries at  84  cents  per  two  square  meters  a  month.  Nearby  is  a  second  hall,  built  in 
1883  at  a  cost  of  $143,750.  A  third  hall  followed  in  1899  at  a  cost  of  $38,500,  while 
in  1911  further  extensions  were  determined  on  and  there  are  fresh  projects  now 
•under  consideration.  Besides  these  covered  markets  the  city  has  a  paved  and  fenced 
square  that  has  been  used  since  1907  as  an  open  market,  where  stands  are  rented  at 
5  cents  a  day. 

Sixty  per  cent,  of  the  stands  in  the  market  halls  are  rented  by  the  month  and  40 
per  cent,  by  the  day.  Tuesdays  and  Fridays  are  reserved  for  wholesale  trading.  A 
market  commission  rules  the  markets  and  the  police  enforce  their  regulations,  the 
violation  of  which  is  liable  to  cost  the  offender  $7.20  in  fines  or  imprisonment  up  to 
€ight  days. 

Munich,  with  a  population  of  half  a  million,  has  the  most  modern  of  all  the  Euro- 
pean municipal  markets.  It  was  opened  in  February,  1912,  and  embodies  the  im- 
provements suggested  by  experience  of  market  administration  in  other  cities. 

The  total  cost  was  $797,000,  of  which  $510,000  was  spent  on  four  communicating 
iron  market  halls,  with  their  cellar  accommodation  underneath,  $190,000  on  a  receiving 
and  toll  department,  $52,000  on  a  group  of  adjacent  buildings,  including  a  post-office, 
restaurant,  and  beer-garden,  and  $45,000  on  roadways.  The  whole  establishment  covers 
46,500  square  meters,  of  which  the  market  halls  occupy  37,100  square  meters. 

At  the  northern  extremity  of  the  buildings  is  the  toll  and  receiving  department, 
where  produce  is  delivered  at  special  sidings  connected  with  the  south  railway  station 
of  the  city.  Next  comes  a  succession  of  lofty  halls,  with  covered  connections,  termi- 
nating in  a  small  retail  section  and  the  administration  offices.  At  the  northern  end 
of  the  great  market  is  a  section  where  express  delivery  traffic  is  dealt  with,  while 
the  western  side  is  occupied  with  sidings  for  loading  produce  sold  to  buyers  from 
•other  German  centers. 

Below  the  toll  house  and  the  market  generally  are  vast  cold  storage  cellars  and 
refrigerating  plants  for  the  preservation  of  surplus  supplies  till  the  demand  in  the 
market  above  calls  for  their  delivery.  Each  market  hall  is  devoted  to  a  separate  sec- 
tion of  produce,  and  the  cellars  below  are  correspondingly  distinct,  so  that  there  is  an 
absence  of  confusion,  orderliness  is  ensured,  and  rapid  deliveries  facilitated.  Across 
this  underground  space  from  north  to  south  run  three  roadways,  while  down  the 
center,  from  east  to  west,  a  further  broad  aisle  is  provided,  with  an  equipment  of 
great  hydraulic  lifts.  There  are  nine  of  these  lifts  altogether  for  heavy  consignments, 
while  each  stand  owner  in  the  market  has,  in  addition,  a  small  lift  connecting  his 
stand  and  storage  cellar. 

Both  market  halls  and  underground  cellars  are  so  constructed  as  to  facilitate 
ventilation  and  complete  cleanliness.  The  floors  are  of  concrete  and  every  stand  is 
fitted  with  running  water,  with  which  all  the  fittings  have  to  be  scoured  every  day. 
There  is  both  roof  and  side  light,  and  ample  ventilation,  while  the  entrances  are  wind- 
screened,  to  prevent  dust.  Electric  light  is  used  underground,  and  the  cellars  are 
inspected  as  strictly  as  the  upper  halls,  to  ensure  due  attention  to  hygiene.  In  the 
center  of  each  market  hall  there  are  offices  and  writing  rooms  for  those  using  the 
markets.  In  the  restaurant  150  can  be  served  with  meals  at  one  time,  or  they  can  be 
accommodated  with  seats  in  the  beer-garden. 

Associated  with  this  market  establishment  is  a  great  cattle  market  and  range  of 
slaughterhouses  on  a  neighboring  site.    The  live  cattle  market  dates  back  for  cen- 


91 


turies,  but  the  present  accommodation  was  only  completed  in  May,  1904,  at  a  total 
cost  of  $1,600,000. 

Last  year  809,508  animals  were  sold,  including  432,159  swine  and  234,457  calves. 
In  the  slaughterhouses  713,228  of  these  were  killed,  besides  2,619  horses  and  97  dogs. 
About  25  per  cent,  of  the  animals  reach  the  market  by  road  from  neighboring  farms, 
while  75  per  cent,  come  by  rail.  For  the  inspection  of  all  flesh  foods  there  are  very 
strict  rules,  enforced  by  the  chief  veterinary  surgeon,  Dr.  Miiller,  and  a  staff  of  spe- 
cially trained  assistants.  As  in  Berlin,  extensive  bathrooms  are  provided  for  the 
slaughterhouse  staff,  and  baths  are  available  at  nominal  charges.  Though  the  new 
market  halls  have  not  been  established  long  enough  to  provide  a  definite  financial 
statement,  the  live-cattle  market  and  slaughterhouses  do  afford  an  indication  of  the 
success  of  municipal  administration  in  Munich.  Last  year  the  income  was  $416,500 
and  the  expenditure  $410,100,  thus  showing  a  profit  of  $6,400.  The  new  produce  halls 
are  certainly  the  best  equipped  in  the  world,  and  the  only  element  of  doubt  as  to 
their  success  arises  from  the  fact  that  three  old-fashioned  open  markets  are  nearer 
the  center  of  the  city  and  for  that  reason  are  even  now  preferred  by  many  retailers. 
This  fact  emphasizes  the  importance  of  selecting  a  central  position  in  establishing  a 
municipal  terminal  market. 

France 

Paris  has  one  of  the  most  skilfully  organized  municipal  market  systems  in  Europe. 
The  chief  food  distribution  center  for  the  3,000,000  Parisians  is  established  at  the 
Halles  Centrales,  a  series  of  ten  pavilions  covering  twenty-two  acres  of  ground  and 
intervening  streets.  Altogether  this  great  terminal  market  has  cost  the  city  more 
than  $10,000,000. 

Most  of  the  pavilions  are  entirely  for  the  wholesale  trade,  but  some  are  used  as 
retail  markets  to  a  limited  extent.  Retail  traders  are  being  decreased  gradually,  so 
that  whereas  in  1904  there  were  1,164  retail  stands  there  are  now  only  856. 

The  total  receipts  of  the  Halles  Centrales  and  thirty  local  markets  amount  to 
$2,100,000,  of  which  about  $1,000,000  is  profit.  There  is  a  general  advance  in  the 
wholesale  trade,  but  the  local  covered  markets  or  marches  de  quartier,  are  not  pro- 
gressing in  the  same  way,  so  the  city  does  not  quite  maintain  a  steady  level  of  market 
profit. 

The  reasons  given  for  the  falling  pflf  of  the  retail  trade  are  various,  but  the  prin- 
cipal causes  appear  to  be  (1)  the  growth  of  big  stores,  with  local  branches,  that  de- 
liver the  goods  at  the  door,  thus  relieving  the  purchaser  of  the  necessity  of  taking 
home  market  supplies;  (2)  the  number  of  perambulating  produce  salesmen,  who  sell 
from  carts  in  the  street  at  low  rates,  having  neither  store  rent  nor  market  tolls  to 
pay,  and  (3)  the  growth  of  cooperative  societies. 

A  complicated  and  severe  code  of  regulations  governs  the  markets.  Commission 
salesmen  at  the  Halles  Centrales  must  be  French  citizens  of  unblemished  record  and 
must  give  a  bond  of  not  less  than  $1,000  in  proof  of  solvency.  Producers  may  have 
their  supplies  sold  either  at  auction  or  by  private  treaty,  as  they  prefer,  and  as  the 
agents  are  not  allowed  to  do  business  for  themselves  the  distant  growers  have  con- 
fidence in  the  market  methods. 

In  the  retail  markets  each  dealer  in  fresh  meat  pays  just  under  $6.00  a  week  in 
all,  while  dealers  in  salted  meats,  fish,  game,  and  vegetables  pay  a  much  lower  rate. 
All,  however,  in  the  covered  markets  pay  three  taxes — one  for  the  right  to  occupy 
a  stand,  one  for  the  cleaning  and  arranging  of  the  markets,  and  one  for  the  main- 
tenance of  guardians  and  officials.  In  the  open  markets  the  stands  are  rented  by  the 
day,  week,  or  year,  the  rate  for  the  day  ranging  from  ten  to  thirty  cents,  according  to 
space.  Several  of  these  local  markets  have  charters,  dating  back  to  pre-revolution 
days,  that  cannot  now  be  annulled. 


92 


It  would  be  difficult  to  devise  a  more  thorough  system  of  inspection.  An  average 
year's  seizures  include  half  a  million  pounds  of  meat,  17,000  pounds  of  fruit  and 
vegetables  and  half  a  million  pounds  of  salt  water  fish. 

Thus  the  Paris  market  arrangements  provide  an  admirable  central  clearing  house, 
where  supplies  are  inspected  and  sold  under  such  conditions  as  to  prevent  the  artificial 
raising  of  prices.  It  also  acts  as  a  feeder  to  the  marches  de  quartier,  to  the  great 
convenience  of  local  consumers.  Moreover,  the  producer  is  safeguarded,  for  on  his 
supplies  a  small  fixed  percentage  only  can  be  charged  by  the  salesman,  and  the  cur- 
rent market  prices  are  made  public  by  agents  especially  detailed  for  that  purpose. 

Havre,  the  well-known  French  seaport,  with  a  population  of  130,000,  has  a  profit 
of  over  6  per  cent,  on  the  Halles  Centrales  and  10  per  cent,  on  the  fish  market.  All 
told  there  is  a  profit  of  $27,000  on  the  twelve  municipal  markets. 

The  Halles  Centrales  occupy  an  entire  square  in  the  center  of  the  city  and  cost 
$75,000,  exclusive  of  the  site.  Gardeners  and  farmers  are  not  permitted  to  sell  their 
produce  on  the  way  to  the  market  and  are  only  allowed  to  deliver  to  storekeepers 
after  the  wholesale  markets  are  closed.  Here,  as  elsewhere  where  the  markets  are 
successful,  every  precaution  is  taken  to  avoid  the  prosperity  of  the  market  being 
dissipated  by  sales  in  the  surrounding  neighborhood.  The  annual  rents  for  butchers 
are  very  moderate,  ranging  from  $57.90  to  $154.40,  vegetable  dealers  $42.85  to  $92.64, 
dairy  produce  dealers  $52.11  to  $85.11,  fish-mongers  $23.16  to  $86.85.  In  the  wholesale 
markets  there  is  an  annual  trade  turnover  worth  well  above  $1,000,000,  of  which  fish 
represents  $280,000.  So  far  from  the  fishermen  finding  the  fish  market  detrimental  to 
their  interests,  they  welcome  it  and  cheerfully  observe  the  rule  forbidding  sales  on 
the  quays  or  transit  sheds  except  under  special  permits. 

Lyons,  with  a  population  of  half  a  million,  may  be  taken  as  the  best  example  of  a 
flourishing  French  provincial  city  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  sea.  The 
principal  market,  La  Halle,  is  known  all  over  France  for  its  public  auctions.  Accom- 
modation is  provided  for  276  stalls,  rented  at  14  cents  a  day  per  square  meter  for  fruit, 
vegetables,  and  cheese,  while  other  stalls  for  meat  and  fish  are  rented  at  33  cents  per 
square  meter. 

At  the  morning  auctions,  held  at  the  rear  of  the  hall,  are  sold  immense  quantities 
of  fish,  oysters,  lobsters,  game,  poultry,  butter,  cheese,  eggs,  fruit,  and  vegetables. 
There  is  a  rule  that  all  supplies  must  come  from  outside  Lyons,  so  that  local  store 
men  cannot  there  dispose  of  surplus  stocks,  but  dealers  in  other  French  cities  often 
thus  relieve  themselves  when  overloaded.  These  auctions  not  only  enable  local  dealers 
to  distribute  supplies  at  cheap  rates  to  the  small  stores  all  over  the  city,  but  wide 
awake  housewives  can  frequently  tell  just  what  the  stores  gave  at  wholesale  for  the 
produce  offered  to  them  at  retail  later  in  the  day,  so  a  check  can  be  kept  on  over- 
charges. 

The  auctioneers  are  given  a  monopoly  of  selling  for  ten  years,  on  liinding  them- 
selves to  pay  to  the  city  a  sum  equal  to  2  per  cent,  on  the  total  annual  sales.  The 
minimum  is  fixed  at  $1,930  for  one  stand  or  $5,650  for  four  stands,  to  be  paid  to  the 
municipal  treasury.  Two  per  cent,  is  added  to  the  purchase  price  of  every  payment 
made  by  buyers  at  auction,  and  if  this  does  not  amount  to  $1,930  per  stand  for  the 
year,  the  auctioneer  has  to  make  up  the  difference.  The  poorer  classes  benefit  largely 
by  these  sales,  banding  together  to  buy  wholesale  and  then  dividing  their  purchases. 

There  are  also  seventeen  markets  for  general  retail  trade  in  Lyons.  The  Terminal 
Market  of  La  Halle  cost  the  city  $886,980.  The  company  which  built  it  was  given  a 
concession  for  fifty  years,  on  a  division  of  profits  arrangement,  but  within  sixteen 
months  the  utility  of  the  market  as  an  advantageous  enterprise  for  the  city  was  so 
clearly  demonstrated  that  the  municipality  bought  the  company  out. 


93 


Austria-Hungary 

Vienna,  with  1,700,000  people  to  supply,  has  a  magnificently  managed  system  of 
forty-five  markets,  seven  of  vi^hich  are  located  in  large,  well-ventilated  halls,  all  kept 
spotlessly  clean. 

Market  commissioners  appointed  by  the  municipality  conduct  the  business  of  the 
markets  according  to  strict  regulations,  enforcing  a  rigid  inspection  of  all  products  as 
well  as  weights  and  measures.  Violations  of  these  rules  are  punishable  by  fines  of 
about  $2.00,  imprisonment  for  24  hours,  or  exclusion  from  the  markets.  Such  penal- 
ties are  enforced  when  buyers  are  defrauded,  dealers  oppose  the  market  authority, 
or  exceed  the  charges  that  are  posted  in  the  market. 

Not  merely  land  and  water  produce,  but  general  farm  and  household  requisites, 
are  sold  at  these  markets.  Outside  buying  is  strictly  controlled,  owners  of  boats  on 
the  Danube  or  wagons  on  the  public  streets  paying  toll  to  the  municipality  on  any 
sales. 

Over  $6o,ooo  profit  is  the  average  annual  yield  of  the  markets  to  the  city  treasury, 
and  it  is  generally  agreed  that  the  market  system  tends  to  keep  down  the  price  of 
foodstuffs  to  normal  levels. 

Buda-Pesth  has  715,000  people  and  a  very  complete  market  system,  under  which, 
though  only  nominal  rentals  are  charged,  there  is  a  profit  of  over  $iOO,ooo. 

There  is  one  large  wholesale  terminal  market,  while  six  local  markets  cater  for 
the  retail  requirements  of  all  quarters  of  the  city.  All  salesmen  are  carefully  selected; 
criminals  and  diseased  persons  being  rigidly  excluded.  Though  a  wide  variety  of 
articles  are  sold  in  the  smaller  markets  besides  farm  produce,  storekeepers  are  not 
allowed  to  rent  stalls,  so  the  market  men  and  farmers  alone  have  the  use  of  the  build- 
ings. The  regulations  under  which  they  trade  were  drawn  up  by  a  market  commission 
and  confirmed  by  ministerial  decrees.  These  regulations  are  regarded  in  Europe  as  a 
model  of  comprehensiveness  and  their  observance  ensures  close  attention  to  hygiene. 
Among  the  rules  is  one  insisting  on  the  placing  of  all  waste  paper  in  the  public  refuse 
receptacles,  while  another  compels  the  use  of  new,  clean  paper  only  in  wrapping  up 
food  products. 

Stalls  are  rented  from  four  to  ten  cents  a  day,  according  to  the  accommodation. 
Supplies  come  by  boat,  rail,  and  wagon,  and  when  there  is  pressure  on  the  interior 
market  space  sales  are  allowed  from  the  boats  and  wagons  at  a  toll  of  ten  cents  a 
day.  Otherwise  only  merchandise  is  allowed  to  be  sold  outside  the  market  halls. 
Not  only  must  no  fish,  game,  meat,  or  poultry  be  sold  without  first  being  passed  by 
the  veterinary  inspectors,  but  none  of  these  articles^ of  diet  must  be  brought  to  market 
packed  in  straw,  cloth,  or  paper.   Unripe  fruit  must  not  be  sold  to  children. 

Every  day  a  bulletin  issued  by  the  market  commission  sets  out  the  wholesale 
prices,  while  a  weekly  list  gives  the  retail  prices,  but  in  the  latter  case  the  note  is 
added  that  the  market  commission  will  not  be  responsible  for  any  controversy  that 
may  arise.  All  the  stocks  held  by  the  market  traders  are  insured  by  the  municipality, 
though  not  to  their  full  value. 

Not  only  have  these  markets  proved  beneficial  to  the  consumers  generally,  but  the 
market  men  are  unanimous  as  to  their  advantage,  for  they  afford  a  ready  and  in- 
expensive means  of  doing  a  large  business. 

Holland 

Amsterdam,  with  a  population  of  510,000,  has  all  the  local  markets  under  the 
control  of  the  municipality.  They  are  divided  into  five  districts,  each  managed  by  a 
director  or  market  master,  responsible  to  the  city  council. 

Two  of  the  markets  are  covered,  but  the  remainder  are  open  and  are  situated  by 
the  side  of  the  canals,  along  which  the  produce  is  brought  in  boats  from  the  farms 


94 


around.  On  the  administration  of  the  markets  in  an  average  year  there  is  a  profit  of 
$36,000,  but  there  is  a  law  against  making  a  profit  on  municipal  enterprises,  so  the 
surplus  is  spent  on  local  improvements. 

Rotterdam,  another  great  Dutch  seaport,  operates  its  markets  under  similar  con- 
ditions and  makes  a  profit  of  $34,000,  of  which  $23,000  comes  from  the  cattle  and 
meat  markets. 

Belgium 

Brussels,  possessing  a  population  of  half  a  million,  reaps  considerable  advantage 
from  its  picturesque  municipal  markets,  four  of  which  are  covered,  while  several 
are  in  the  open  air. 

The  renting  of  space  to  stand  holders  at  the  central  market  is  according  to  the 
highest  bidder,  provided  the  price  is  not  below  $11.58  per  month  for  meat,  $9.65  for 
poultry  and  game,  $5.79  for  fruit,  vegetables,  butter,  and  cheese. 

Both  producers  and  dealers  sell  at  these  markets,  all  their  supplies  being  subjected 
to  drastic  inspection  regulations.  All  meats  are  tested  by  the  municipal  veterinary 
surgeon  and  his  staff,  while  a  communal  chemist  regulates  the  milk,  butter,  and  general 
dairy  produce.  The  cleansing  of  the  markets  is  done  by  the  department  of  public 
cleanliness.  Some  of  the  public  markets  are  managed  by  a  contractor,  who  receives 
$250.90  a  year  for  setting  up  the  stalls  and  keeping  them  in  good  order.  He  deposits 
a  security  on  undertaking  his  contract  and  in  default  of  a  satisfactory  performance  of 
his  work  the  commune  does  it  and  charges  him  with  it. 


VII.    PROVISIONING  METROPOLITAN  POPULATIONS 
WITH  FRESH  FOODSTUFFS 
Including 

A  History  of  the  Market  System  of  Berlin 
By  Edgar  Lange 

Abridged  Translation  of  Chapters  V,  VI,  VII,  VIII,  and  IX, 
By  Jacob  M.  Friedland,  Office  of  the  President  of  the  Borough  of  The  Bronx 

Organized  Metropolitan  Provisioning  Systems, 
Paris 

The  oldest  metropolitan  provisioning  system  is  represented  by  the  Central  Halls 
of  Paris.  Philip  Augustus  and  Louis  XII  sought  to  solve  this  problem  on  a  scale  in 
keeping  with  the  importance  of  the  city,  and  during  their  reigns  were  taken  the  first 
steps  to  put  the  markets  under  sheltering  Halls.  The  Halls  have  become  famous  in 
history  because  they  were  used  for  political  assemblies  in  the  time  of  the  great  Revo- 
lution ;  this  circumstance  has  contributed  largely  toward  giving  the  market  hall  system 
a  place  in  the  affections  of  the  inhabitants  of  Paris.  The  construction  of  the  existing 
Central  Halls  was  begun  in  the  year  1811  under  the  influence  of  the  foresighted 
and  statesmanlike  genuius  of  Napoleon  I ;  and,  laid  out  on  broad  lines,  they  were  first 
completed  in  1856  under  Napoleon  III. 

This  establishment  has  become  the  center  of  the  Paris  wholesale  trade  in  market 
stuffs,  and  the  retail  dealer  who  supplies  the  consumers  obtains  his  supply  almost 
exclusively  through  it.  Through  the  gathering  together  of  the  wholesale  trade  in 
the  Halls,  the  centralization  of  the  entire  supply  for  Paris  has  been  accomplished. 
This  was  facilitated  by  the  removal  of  an  exceedingly  burdensome  consumers'  tax, 
which  was  first  completely  accomplished  with  the  introduction  of  the  market  fees  in 
the-  Halls. 

The  great  fault  in  the  Paris  establishments  consists  in  the  fact  that  they  have  no 
immediate  railroad  connections,  and  consequently  the  supply  from  the  railroad  freight 
yards  must  be  brought  by  express  wagons.  When  the  markets  were  founded,  which 
was  before  the  time  of  the  railroads,  attention  was  paid  only  to  their  central  location, 
and  as  a  consequence  neither  was  a  railroad  connection  straight  through  Paris  ever 
made,  because  of  what  were  considered  insuperable  difficulties,  nor  was  the  construc- 
tion of  an  underground  railroad  connection  for  market-stuff  traffic,  proposed  by  Na- 
poleon III,  ever  carried  out. 

While  allowing  the  greatest  freedom  in  the  development  of  the  Paris  wholesale 
trade,  which  has  as  a  result  become  almost  too  highly  specialized,  the  system  is  com- 
plicated by  a  large  number  of  regulations  which  are  meant  to  provide  for  all  possible 
and  probable  happenings  in  the  market.  For  this  purpose  heavy  and  expensive  offi- 
cial machinery  is  employed. 

The  provisioning  of  Paris  is  made  difficult  by  this  indirect  method  of  supply  and 
is  burdened  with  heavy  fees,  which  are  the  higher  because  the  city,  with  its  large 


96 


debt,  regards  the  market  trade  as  a  sure  and  favorable  source  of  income.  The  prices 
of  fresh  foodstuffs  in  Paris  are  consequently  very  high. 

The  wholesale  market  in  the  Central  Halls  of  Paris  has  had  an  exceptionally  good 
development  in  spite  of  its  technical,  administrative,  and  fiscal  complexity  correspond- 
ing to  the  French  economic  system.  The  Halls,  which  have  become  too  small,  and  in 
some  respects  are  now  antiquated,  are  constantly  overcrowded  so  that  a  lively  trade 
extends  out  into  the  streets.  Large  profits  are  enjoyed  by  the  wholesale  dealers,  as 
well  as  by  the  ofiicial  sales  agents,  who  are  appointed  in  the  interest  of  producers 
who  cannot  personally  come  to  the  market. 

The  prices  obtained  in  the  Central  Halls  for  market  stuffs  determine  prices  for 
the  whole  city,  and  Paris  has  become  a  center  of  distribution  for  all  of  France.  Even 
the  producers  of  the  distant  provinces  prefer  to  work  for  Paris,  because  they  find 
there  a  surer  and  more  profitable  sale  than  in  the  smaller  and  less  dependable  markets 
of  the  provincial  towns — and  this,  in  spite  of  the  high  freight  rates  and  the  other 
high  fees.    These  producers  even  buy  their  more  costly  goods  through  Paris. 

At  present  there  are  always  sufficient  quantities  of  fresh  foodstuffs  in  good  con- 
dition available,  even  in  years  of  unfavorable  harvests.  What  the  Central  Halls  are 
capable  of  doing  for  the  provisioning  of  the  population  has  been  shown  in  the  war 
year  1870  when,  through  its  organization  alone,  the  metropolis  was  able  to  provide 
itself  in  two  months  against  a  siege  lasting  half  a  year. 

The  retail  distribution  of  fresh  foodstuffs  takes  place  in  single  stores  or  in  retail 
markets,  not  all  of  which  are  located  in  the  Halls,  in  which  the  business  is  carried  on 
either  by  the  city  itself  or  by  private  individuals.  The  stores  and  the  open  square 
markets  in  the  suburbs,  which  are  independent  of  the  central  market,  are  in  a  flourish- 
ing condition,  and  are  preferred  by  the  Parisians,  but  the  retail  markets  in  Paris  have 
little  significance. 

London 

The  second  oldest  metropolitan  provisioning  system  centralized  in  market  halls 
exists  in  the  City  of  London.  There  exists,  however,  no  common  central  market  for 
all  the  fresh  foodstuffs,  as  in  Paris,  but  the  principal  classes  of  the  market  traffic  are 
separated  from  one  another;  thus,  meat  and  all  the  other  animal  products  are  sold 
chiefly  in  Smithfield,  vegetables  in  Covent  Gardens — a  privately  owned  market — and 
sea  food  in  Billingsgate  on  the  Thames. 

All  wholesale  markets  are  provided  with  railroad  connections ;  but  since  these  are 
nowhere  adequate,  and  supplies  are  burdened  with  high  freight  rates  besides,  con- 
siderable trucking  is  made  necessary;  this  is  expensive,  and  is  difficult  because  of  the 
rehandling  it  entails. 

The  wholesale  trade  is  carried  out  with  entire  freedom  and  independence  under 
the  guidance  of  the  market  dealers.  There  are  almost  no  official  sales  agents.  The 
administrative  machinery  is  light  and  only  a  few  rules,  like  expulsion  from  the  market 
stand  for  disorderly  conduct,  suffice  for  the  smooth  carrying  on  of  the  gigantic  market 
trade,  whose  sole  fees  consist  of  very  high  stand  rents.  ****** 

The  provisioning  with  fresh  foodstuffs  is  done  in  London  almost  entirely  through 
the  wholesale  markets,  which  are  always  overcrowded  in  spite  of  their  magnitude. 
There  exist  only  a  few  independent  wholesale  firms,  who  are  interested  mainly  in  the 
importation  of  tropical  foods.  In  addition,  the  railroad  companies  and  the  shipping 
companies  have  established  depots  in  their  freight  yards  and  on  their  docks,  where 
they  carry  on  an  increasing  wholesale  traffic  in  market  stuffs  as  a  side  line — taking 
advantage  of  their  immediate  contact  with  receivers 

For  the  purpose  of  distribution,  there  exist  larger  retail  markets  in  market  halls 
in  the  city. 


97 


Vienna 

A  third  but  incomplete  form  of  metropolitan  provisioning  is  represented  by  Vienna, 
where,  side  by  side  with  the  central  market  halls,  there  has  remained  in  existence  an 
old  open  square  market  which  is  supplied  by  wagons  exclusively,  and  which  serves, 
to  a  great  extent,  the  wholesale  trade  in  vegetables.  The  market  hall  for  the  whole- 
sale trade  in  meats,  erected  in  1865,  has  been  supplemented  in  1899,  on  account  of 
increasing  need  for  space,  by  a  second  hall,  adjacent  to  the  first  one.  To  these  was 
added,  as  late  as  1906,  a  hall  for  the  wholesale  trade  in  vegetables.  The  wholesale 
trade  in  fish,  chiefly  in  fresh  water  fish,  is  located  in  its  own  market  hall  on  the 
Danube. 

The  Vienna  wholesale  trade  has  been  established  by  the  city  itself,  with  consider- 
able support  from  the  State  authorities.  As  a  result  the  acquisition  of  property 
necessary  and  the  somewhat  insufficient  railroad  connections  have  been  brought  about 
cheaply  and  on  favorable  terms.  The  City  of  Vienna,  which  is  in  a  good  financial 
condition  besides,  has  therefore  been  able  to  impose  but  small  fees  on  the  market 
traffic,  a  fact  which  has  furthered  its  development  considerably.  The  admission  of 
bonded  sales  agents  has  also  contributed  to  its  success. 

Great  defects  in  the  provision  of  Vienna  are :  The  high  freight  rates,  the  neces- 
sity for  much  trucking  of  supplies  to  the  markets  from  the  freight  yards,  and  the 
existence  of  a  state  consumer's  tax,  which  is  collected  in  the  most  roundabout  way, 
according  to  old  principles,  which  are  entirely  unsuited  to  modern  metropolitan  de- 
velopment, the  city  itself  getting  the  benefit  of  only  one-half  of  that  tax.  The  whole- 
sale trade  in  the  open  market,  which  is  carried  on  in  open  square  market  fashion, 
has  a  disturbing  influence  and  results  in  restless  and  strongly  fluctuating  prices,  so 
that  the  provisioning  system  of  Vienna  suffers  from  incomplete  centralization,  in 
addition  to  fiscal  and  technical  hindrances.  But,  even  in  Vienna,  the  increasing  concen- 
tration of  the  wholesale  trade  in  fresh  foodstuffs  in  the  wholesale  market  hall  shows 
that  this  system  tends  to  become  permanent,  especially  when  an  adequate  system 
of  supply  has  been  worked  out. 

Within  the  city  there  exist,  for  purposes  of  distribution,  numerous  small  retail 
markets,  some  of  them  in  market  halls;  with  the  latter  the  open  square  markets  in 
the  suburbs,  which  are  free  from  the  consumer's  tax,  are  in  strong  competition,  the 
same  as  in  Paris.  For  this  reason  the  retail  markets  in  Vienna  are  also  of  little  im- 
portance. 


THE  ORGANIZED  PROVISIONING  SYSTEM  OF  THE  CITY  OF  BERLIN 

Reasons  for  Their  Tardiness  in  Attacking  the  Problem 

Among  the  leading  metropolitan  cities,  Berlin  has  come  rather  late  to  realize  the 
necessity  of  supplying  itself  in  an  organized  manner  with  fresh  foodstuffs  on  a  scale 
corresponding  to  its  size — and  this,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  extraordinarily  rapid 
development  of  the  open  square  market  system  clearly  indicated  its  transient  char- 
acter, and  some  change,  particularly  in  the  second  half  of  the  Nineteenth  Century, 
became  increasingly  necessary.  The  success  of  undertaking  organized  provisioning 
was  assured  by  the  example  of  other  big  cities,  like  Paris,  London,  and  Vienna. 

This  hesitation  before  a  problem,  whose  solution  was  to  be  of  benefit  to  the 
entire  population,  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  Berlin  has  become  independent  in  its 
internal  administration  as  well  as  in  its  communal  life  rather  late,  viz.,  with  the  in- 
troduction of  the  Act  of  City  Regulations  in  the  beginning  of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 
It  is  further  to  be  noted  that  Berlin,  being  the  Prussian  Residence  City,  is  placed  under 


98 


special  conditions,  for  which  reason  the  City  Regulations  have,  up  to  the  present,  not 
become  completely  applicable  to  it. 

Here,  as  in  so  many  other  German  cities,  the  flourishing  town  culture  of  the 
Middle  Ages  had  been  but  too  thoroughly  destroyed  by  the  Thirty  Years  War,  and 
the  authorities  and  representatives  of  communities  could  arrive  at  a  realization  of 
their  duties  and  rights  only  after  a  State  guardianship,  lasting  through  centuries  after 
that  War.  So  that  it  took  a  long  time  before  they  were  able  to  recognize  and  ap- 
preciate the  magnitude  of  their  problems  and  the  measure  of  their  capabilities. 

After  the  Wars  of  1864,  1866,  and  1870-71,  whose  victories  made  Berlin  the  capital 
of  the  New  German  Empire  and  gave  impetus  to  its  growth,  the  city  was  beset  with 
new  undertakings,  pressing  and  expensive,  such  as  canalization,  the  water  works, 
the  lighting  system,  and  finally  the  erection  of  the  municipal  cattle  pens  and  slaughter- 
house. 

The  First  Attempt  by  the  City  Administration 

The  failure  of  the  open  square  markets  in  the  famine  year,  1846  and  1847,  led  to 
the  commissioning  of  a  deputation  to  supply  the  markets  regularly,  with  potatoes  at 
least,  which  was  the  chief  foodstuff  of  the  poor  population. 

A  few  city  officials  who  had  become  personally  acquainted  in  their  trips  abroad 
with  the  advantages  of  central  markets,  especially  that  of  Paris,  started  the  first 
movement  in  this  direction  as  early  as  1848;  but  further  action  was  delayed  until  1863 
and  after. 

Vain  Efforts  of  Private  Undertakings 

Seeing  the  evident  hesitation  of  the  City  Administration,  private  enterprise,  which 
was  very  active  in  the  period  after  1871,  tried  to  relieve  the  precarious  condition  of 
the  markets,  and  to  derive  commercial  benefit  from  it  at  the  same  time.  Here  again, 
emphasis  was  laid  only  on  the  erection  of  market  halls  and  not  on  the  regulation  of 
the  market  system. 

In  the  year  1864,  the  Berlin  Society  got  permission  to  build  a  market  hall,  which 
was  to  be  opened  in  the  year  1867.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  State  authorities 
intended  to  close  the  two  nearest  open  square  markets,  in  the  interest  of  the  new 
undertaking  (the  legitimacy  of  this  step  was  combated  by  the  city),  it  foundered. 
As  a  result  of  this,  the  square  which  was  desired  for  a  new  market  hall  was  refused. 
Further  attempts  of  the  above  mentioned  society  in  the  years  1869  and  1872  were 
frustrated  by  the  exacting  conditions  stipulated  by  the  Mayor  in  order  to  safeguard 
the  existing  market  traffic. 

Introduction  of  the  Organized  Provisioning  System 
Through  the  City  Administration 

Under  the  pressure  of  the  evils  of  the  open  square  market  system,  which  was 
growing  less  and  less  adequate  with  the  changing  living  conditions  of  the  capital  of 
the  Empire,  the  members  of  the  City  Administration  gradually  came  around  to  the 
views  first  held  by  the  State  authorities.  This  was  the  case  when,  in  1875,  the  streets 
of  Berlin  were  transferred  to  the  control  of  the  city  itself,  and  in  this  way  the  re- 
moval of  the  traffic-hindering,  unsanitary,  and  antiquated  markets  from  the  streets 
and  squares  had  become  a  matter  of  its  own  concern.  It  was  recognized  that,  because 
of  its  good  financial  condition,  its  high  credit,  and  its  economic  strength,  the  city 
could  establish  and  carry  on  a  great  common  undertaking  of  this  kind  much  more 
favorably  for  its  inhabitants  than  anyone  else.  For  this  reason  the  idea  of  leaving 
such  projects  to  private  enterprise,  in  any  form  whatever,  was  finally  abandoned.  As 
a  result  of  the  preliminary  investigations  of  a  commission  established  in  1875,  the 


99 


Mayor  declared,  in  1880,  "that  the  idea  is  gaining  ground  among  the  city  authorities, 
that  Berlin  cannot  get  along  without  market  halls  any  longer,  but  that  they  are  to  be 
erected  by  the  city." 

At  the  same  time,  the  plan  of  erecting  market  halls  simply  for  harboring  the  exist- 
ing open  square  markets  was  replaced  by  that  of  regulation  and  transformation  of 
the  entire  market  system. 

The  approaching  completion  of  the  city  railway  forced  the  City  Administration 
finally  to  decide  whether  they  would  allow  other  than  simple  passenger  traffic  to  be 
carried  by  that  railroad.  It  was  finally  decided  to  allow  only  market  stuff  to  be  carried 
in  addition  to  the  passenger  trafhc. 

With  the  decision  to  draw  up  a  general  plan  for  the  erection  of  market  halls  for 
the  entire  city,  the  solution  of  the  entire  market  problem  of  Berlin  was  tackled  in  the 
year  1881 — rather  late,  it  is  true,  but  on  a  comprehensive  scale.  The  city  began  the 
work  with  the  careful  consideration  of  its  own  local  conditions  and  guiding  itself  by, 
but  not  copying,  the  existing  establishments  and  experience  of  other  big  cities. 

After  the  necessary  preliminary  work,  the  erection  of  a  Central  Market  Hall  was 
begun  in  1883  and,  after  being  connected  with  the  railroad  for  the  receipt  of  fresh 
foodstufT,  the  market  was  opened  in  1886  and  given  over  to  the  trade. 

At  the  same  time  the  city,  in  accordance  with  its  decision  of  1881,  began  the  erec- 
tion of  numerous  retail  market  halls,  which  were  to  replace  the  existing  open  square 
markets  as  distributors  of  fresh  foodstuffs. 

Establishment  of  the  Municipal  Market  Places  and  the  Formation  of  the 

Provisioning  System 

As  had  been  the  case  everywhere  else  up  to  this  time,  the  two  functions  of  receipt 
and  distribution,  which  were  performed  under  one  roof  in  the  new  form  of  market 
hall,  were  considered  as  necessarily  connected  in  reshaping  the  market  system  in  Ber- 
lin. They  sought  to  express  this  unity  by  combining  both  kinds  of  market  traffic. 
This  combination,  however,  makes  more  difficult  the  consideration  of  both  of  these 
parts  of  the  provisioning  system,  which  are  by  nature  entirely  distincr. 

In  working  out  the  financial  basis  of  the  undertaking,  the  leading  idea  was  that 
it  be  self-sustaining,  the  income  meeting  all  expenses.  Neither  was  support  to  be 
derived  from  taxation,  nor  was  the  market  traffic  to  be  burdened  with  excessive  fees. 

The  aim  was  to  be  progressive  in  adapting  the  market  establishments  to  the  busi- 
ness, and  to  lighten  the  official  machinery  through  constant  simplification  of  the 
administration.  The  undertaking,  which  has  cost  about  28,000,000  marks  in  the  form  of 
a  city  loan,  and  which  requires  every  year  considerable  sums  for  maintenance  ex- 
penses, interest  payments,  etc.,  has  brought  considerable  surplus,  although  only  the 
central  wholesale  market  has  shown  a  favorable  development.  This  has  permitted 
the  lowering  of  the  stand  fees  to  a  minimum. 

The  market  halls  have  been  constructed  along  simple  and  appropriate  archi- 
tectural lines  according  to  plans  made  by  the  city  officials,  and  are  regarded  as 
models,  because  they  thoroughly  satisfy  the  manifold  requirements  made  of  them. 
Each  one  consists  of  a  large  hall  level  with  the  ground,  which  is  divided  by  the 
central  hall  into  long  sections  and  which  is  supplied  with  one-story  balconies.  The 
brick  walls  are  made  heavy  in  order  to  maintain  a  uniform  temperature;  the  roof, 
resting  on  iron  columns  and  girders,  is  raised  and  subdivided  into  sheds  over  the 
broad  passages  or  driveways;  the  main  lighting  in  the  day  time  is  through  skylights; 
the  night  illumination  is  by  gas  or  electricity.  Broad  driveways  pass  through  the 
hall,  making  it  possible  for  market  wagons  to  unload  and  load  inside  of  the  market 
halls.  Narrower  passages  branch  off  from  these,  and  alongside  of  the  latter  are 
ranged  the  stands. 


100 


The  Central  Market  is  provided  with  its  own  depot  on  the  city  railway,  the  depot 
being  on  a  level  with  the  galleries  and  connected  with  the  ground  floor  of  the  market 
by  elevators.  When  the  market  was  extended,  the  arches  under  the  railroad  were 
rented. 

New  regulations,  much  more  extensive  than  the  open  square  market  regulations, 
were  necessary,  because  the  traffic  in  the  market  halls,  and  especially  that  in  the 
central  market,  is  of  a  different  character  from  that  in  the  open  square  market.  With 
the  erection  of  the  market  halls  the  market  traffic  was  forced  from  the  open  street 
into  the  city  buildings.  Formerly  the  city  had  only  the  right  to  collect  stand  fees 
in  the  open  square  markets,  all  the  other  functions  relating  to  arrangement  and  order 
in  the  markets  resting  with  the  police;  but  now  there  were  added  requirements  touch- 
ing the  internal  administration,  the  trade,  the  subdivision  and  utilization  of  space,  etc. 
For  the  satisfaction  of  these  it  was  considered  that  the  city  itself  could  act  more 
effectively. 

Since  the  conditions  confronted  were  entirely  new,  it  was  the  intention  of  the 
city  not  to  involve  the  market  system  with  too  detailed  regulations,  and  so  they  are 
mostly  of  a  general  character.  They  regulate  only  the  external  form  of  the  traffic, 
and  assure  the  carrying  out  of  the  existing  laws  as  far  as  they  are  related  to  the 
peculiar  conditions  of  the  market  hall  system. 

In  the  regulations,  stress  is  laid  on  the  main  idea  that  the  halls,  while  open  to 
everybody,  are  to  be  used  only  for  the  market  purposes  fixed  by  the  city.  The  Central 
Halls  I  and  la  are  open  to  the  wholesale  trade  in  fresh  foodstuffs  from  3  to  10  o'clock 
A.  M.,  and,  excepting  the  meat  wholesale  trade,  from  5  to  7  o'clock  p.  m.  Hall  No.  II 
is  open  from  3  o'clock,  and  all  the  other  halls  in  which  the  wholesale  trade  (with 
the  exception  of  the  wholesale  trade  in  fruits  in  Halls  III  and  IV)  is  insignificant, 
from  4  o'clock  a.  m.  until  1  p.  m.  All  halls,  excepting  la,  are  open  for  retail  trade 
from  6  A.  M.  until  1  p.  m.,  and  from  5  p.  m.  until  8  p.  m.,  and  on  Saturday  until  9 
p.  M.  On  Sundays  and  holidays  all  the  markets  are  closed  at  9  o'clock  a.  m.  ;  neither 
the  receipt  nor  the  wholesale  marketing  of  meats  is  permitted  on  those  days.  In  de- 
termining what  articles  were  to  be  sold  in  the  markets,  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that, 
while  allowing  the  sale  of  all  raw  natural  vegetable  and  animal  products,  all  living  ani- 
mals, with  the  exception  of  the  bigger  cattle,  manufactured  articles  whose  production 
is  immediately  connected  with  farm  and  forest  industry,  with  garden  and  orchard 
husbandry,  or  with  the  fishing  industry — yet  the  sale  of  spirituous  liquors  is  pro- 
hibited. The  sale  of  the  so-called  delicatessen,  preserves,  house  and  kitchen  utensils, 
and  even  of  the  simpler  articles  of  dress,  is  not  forbidden. 

As  a  result  of  keeping  down  the  expenses  of  the  undertaking,  the  stand  fees  are 
not  too  high;  in  most  cases  they  are  lower  than  the  sum  of  the  stand  fees  and  ex- 
penses of  carrying  on  trade  in  the  open  square  markets  combined.  It  is  further  to 
be  considered  that  the  market  hall  trade  is  much  more  advantageous  that  the  open 
square  trade,  and  that  a  permanent  and  fixed  stand  can  be  more  quickly  and  effectively 
laid  out,  and  thus  helps  trade  much  more.  In  fact,  the  State  authorities  had  made 
the  closing  of  the  open  square  markets  in  Berlin  conditional  upon  keeping  the  total 
fees  derived  from  the  market  halls  down  to  the  level  of  those  derived  from  the  open 
markets.  The  monthly  rents  for  stands  were  made  considerably  lower  than  for  those 
rented  by  the  day,  in  order  to  encourage  longer  tenure. 

The  Central  Market,  with  its  railroad  connection,  serves  primarily  to  supply  the 
Berlin  intermediate  trade  with  fresh  foodstuffs.  The  latter  has  found  in  it  the  most 
appropriate  place  for  its  activities  in  the  wholesale  field.  In  the  interest  of  distant 
producers  who  cannot  come  to  the  market  themselves,  but  can  only  send  their  goods, 
there  has  been  formed  in  Berlin  the  Institute  of  Sales  Agents.  Toward  this  Institute 
the  city  took  a  passive  attitude  in  order  to  allow  it  to  work  out  its  own  form.  On 
depositing  a  bond  of  20,000  marks  to  cover  various  city  requirements,  and  then  those 


101 


of  the  producers,  a  small  number  of  municipal  sales  agents  are  allowed  to  do  business 
in  the  central  market.  They  sell  freely  like  the  other  market  wholesalers,  or  at 
auction. 

The  prices  obtained  by  these  sales  agents  have  to  be  reported  to  the  authorities  for 
publication  in  the  Official  Market  Bulletin;  in  it  the  City  authorities  and  the  State 
market  police  jointly  publish  the  prices  obtained  every  day  in  the  wholesale  market. 
This  bulletin,  in  which  the  prices  since  the  beginning  of  the  market  hall  undertaking 
have  been  published  quickly  and  reliably,  appeared  at  first  twice  a  week,  and  later  daily ; 
it  serves  the  authorities,  newspapers,  technical  papers,  producers,  dealers,  and  asso- 
ciations as  a  safe  basis  for  their  reports,  balances,  and  transactions. 

Preliminary  Conditions  for  the  Development 

The  City  of  Berlin  has  been  especially  adapted  for  the  development  of  a  system 
of  organized  provisioning  through  the  absence  of  one-sided  or  obstructing  forces, 
and  through  the  astonishing  smoothness  of  the  preliminary  steps.  For  this  reason 
Berlin  may  be  regarded  as  a  model  for  the  study  of  a  scientifically  economic  system 
of  provisioning  of  large  cities.  The  State  authorities  are  lending  a  helping  hand  to 
the  city  in  its  work  of  provisioning.  The  railroads,  which  are  generally  supposed 
to  aid  in  the  advancement  of  the  public  welfare,  do  in  fact  lighten  the  work  of 
provisioning  through  lower  special  rates  and  quick  transportation  of  fresh  foodstuffs. 

In  connection  with  this  branch  of  its  self-government,  the  city  is  not  tied  down 
by  any  limitations.  The  provisioning  system  is  not  exploited  for  the  use  of  the 
budget,  since  it  is  not  burdened  by  a  tax  on  foodstuffs.  The  market  system  of  the 
big  city  has  been  completely  worked  out  in  accordance  with  clear  principles,  and  is 
conducted  carefully,  considerately,  and  in  accordance  with  modern  views.  The  mar- 
ket traffic  is,  as  far  as  possible,  left  to  itself  without,  however,  allowing  it  to  de- 
generate into  chaotic  or  monopolistic  conditions. 

Difficulty  of  Determining  the  Extent  of  the  Entire  Provisioning 

It  is  necessary  to  emphasize  the  fact,  a  fact  which  holds  for  all  cities  having  no 
direct  control  over  the  receipt  and  sale  of  goods,  that  the  actual  magnitude  of  the 
provisioning  of  the  City  of  Berlin  can  be  determined  only  approximately.  The  Cen- 
tral Wholesale  Market  is  not  the  only  place  where  the  goods  are  received,  as  outside 
of  it  dealers  and  consumers  receive  goods  by  freight,  express  trucks,  individuals,  and 
finally  through  the  mails,  the  amount  received  in  this  way  being  hard  to  determine; 
accordingly,  the  entire  in  and  outbound  traffic  on  the  railroads  and  by  water  does  not 
give  an  exhaustive  total.  For  this  reason  the  trade  in  fresh  foodstuffs  in  the  big  city 
is  nowhere  completely  recorded  in  the  statistics,  and  cannot  be  ascertained  from  the 
size  of  the  establishments.  Even  the  business  done  by  the  market  stand  keepers  is 
not  exactly  known.  All  statements  about  the  consumption  of  the  city  with  its  millions 
of  inhabitants  are  but  general  estimates  beyond  the  limits  of  the  available  figures,  and 
are  not  subject  to  verification.  Under  these  circumstances  the  statements  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  business  in  the  Central  Wholesale  Market,  which  form  the  most  ex- 
tensive and  most  clearly  defined  division  of  the  provisioning  system  of  Berlin,  are 
the  safest  guides  in  estimating  the  size  of  that  provisioning  system. 

De\'elopment  of  the  Centralization  of  the  Receipts  in  the  Railroad  Yard 
OF  THE  Central  Market 

Naturally  some  time  had  to  elapse  before  the  system  of  provisioning  had  taken 
shape  and  had  attained  a  practical  significance. 

All  the  supplies  of  fresh  foodstuffs,  which  reach  the  city  from  the  country,  are 


102 


united  in  the  Central  Market.  Although  at  first  the  supplies  by  market  wagon  from 
the  neighboring  country  were  greater  in  quantity,  the  supplies  by  railroad  from 
slightly  remoter  places  quickly  increased  and  were  concentrated  at  the  market  railroad 
depot.  Only  the  products  from  nearby  are  brought  in  wagons.  The  transportation 
of  meats  from  the  municipal  slaughterhouse  to  the  Central  Market  is  effected  mostly 
by  wagons.  In  addition  there  are  occasional  receipts  by  water — such  as  fruit  and 
fresh  water  fish. 

The  freight  traffic  to  the  market  railroad  depot  was  rather  restricted  in  the  be- 
ginning, because  of  its  peculiar  position  in  the  city  railway  system.  Then,  two  trains 
of  30  cars  each  were  allowed  every  night.  As  early  as  1893  an  extension  had  to  be 
made  which,  though  it  was  as  great  as  possible,  resulted  in  the  enlargement  of  the 
traffic  by  one  night  train  only. 

The  combined  traffic  (passenger  and  freight)  was  difficult  and  expensive,  was 
hindered  by  formalities,  and  by  the  short  period  allowed  for  unloading  the  goods; 
so  that  a  large  number  of  market  wholesalers  preferred  to  have  their  stuff  sent  to 
other  freight  depots  in  Berlin,  and  to  transport  them  thence  by  express  wagons  to 
the  Central  Market.  These  difficulties  led,  as  early  as  the  year  1887,  to  the  intro- 
duction of  reasonable  special  rates  (which  were  later  still  further  reduced),  to  more 
expeditious  forwarding  schedules,  and  to  other  changes  making  traffic  easier. 

Since  that  time,  the  supply  of  goods  by  the  market  railroad  has  shown  a  continu- 
ous and  extraordinary  increase.  In  the  first  traffic  year  the  receipts  amounted  to 
4,000  tons  (metric)  ;  in  the  second  it  was  about  12,000  tons,  and  in  the  third  it  rose 
to  about  29,(X)0  tons,  after  the  above  mentioned  improvements  were  introduced.  Then 
a  remarkable  further  rise  took  place,  so  that  in  the  year  1909  it  amounted  to  120,000 
tons.  In  23  years  it  had  thus  increased  30  fold.  The  market  depot  serves  mostly  for 
the  receipt  of  fruit,  especially  foreign  fruit.  The  outbound  traffic  was  very  low  in 
the  first  year,  amounting  to  54  tons;  in  the  second  year  it  was  2,0(X)  tons,  or  one- 
sixth  of  the  inbound  traffic,  and  in  the  year  1909,  after  strong  fluctuations,  it  had  in- 
creased only  to  4,(XX)  tons;  so  that  now  it  forms  about  one-thirtieth  of  the  inbound 
traffic.  The  immense  inbound  traffic,  so  far  exceeding  the  outward  bound  traffic, 
shows  that  the  entire  receipts,  except  a  small  fraction,  are  consumed  in  Berlin,  and 
is  an  indication  of  the  steadily  growing  centralization  through  the  market  railroad 
depot.  The  outbound  trade  serves  at  the  same  time  as  a  safety  valve  for  the  Central 
Wholesale  Market,  which  guards  the  wholesale  trade  from  too  violent  price  reduction 
due  to  over-supply. 

As  a  result  of  this  development,  as  was  the  case  before  the  extension  was  made, 
the  market  railroad  traffic  had  reached  almost  ten  years  ago  the  limit  of  its  capacity, 
which  is  far  from  able  to  satisfy  the  daily  pressing  requirements  of  the  inbound 
traffic. 

Since  a  further  extension  of  the  market  traffic  is  impossible  over  the  city  railway, 
the  railway  officials  found  themselves  forced  to  restrict  the  excessive  demands  on  the 
market  railroad ;  this  was  done  by  allowing  receiving  privileges  at  the  market  depot 
only  to  those  who  occupied  stands  uninterruptedly  for  periods  of  six  months.  The 
effect  was  slight  because  many  dealers  were  not  frightened  away  by  the  rather  con- 
siderable extra  expense  for  stand  fees,  and  paid  them  in  order  to  assure  themselves 
of  the  much  more  valuable  privilege  of  receiving  their  goods  at  the  depot.  Further 
restrictions  were  therefore  introduced. 

The  difficulties  due  to  the  necessary  traffic  restrictions  on  the  market  railroad 
cause  a  heavy  loss  to  the  entire  Central  Market  System  of  Berlin.  But  at  the  time 
of  its  establishment  the  city  administration  considered  the  railroad  connection  under 
the  then  existing  conditions  as  sufficient,  and  such  a  great  development  as  has  actually 
taken  place  was  not  anticipated. 

The  railroad  facilities,  it  is  true,  are  far  less  inadequate  in  Berlin  than  they  are 


103 


in  London,  Vienna,  or  even  in  Paris.  But  because  they  place  the  market  dealers  who 
have  gone  into  the  business  at  a  later  period  at  a  disadvantage,  for  no  fault  of  their 
own,  and  thus  make  their  competition  with  the  older  dealers,  difficult  enough  at  best, 
still  more  difficult,  they  interfere  with  the  healthy  development  of  the  wholesale 
market  trade.  The  system  of  provisioning  is  further  impaired  because  a  considerable 
share  of  the  incoming  goods  is  kept  away  from  the  Central  Wholesale  Market  by  the 
necessary  exclusion  of  a  continually  increasing  traffic  from  the  market  railroad  depot. 

As  a  result  of  these  facts  the  city  administration  of  Berlin  must  provide  a  remedy 
at  once. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WHOLESALE  MARKET  TRADE 

The  wholesale  market  in  the  Central  Market  Hall  has  had  a  favorable  develop- 
ment from  the  very  beginning.  The  area  occupied  by  it  was  tripled  by  the  year  1909. 
At  the  opening  in  the  year  1886,  Market  No.  1,  with  an  available  area  of  4,300  square 
meters,  was  almost  entirely  occupied.  The  demand  for  the  stands  shows  in  the  course 
of  the  years  an  almost  uninterrupted  growth,  so  that  after  five  years  the  market  was 
constantly  overcrowded.  Every  bit  of  available  space  was  utilized  to  the  utmost; 
also,  by  the  renting  of  advantageously  located  street  railway  arches,  provision  was 
made  as  far  as  possible  for  further  development.  Since  these  extensions  were  not 
sufficient,  there  was  opened,  in  the  year  1893,  a  second  Central  Market  with  an  area 
for  stands  of  about  4,200  square  meters,  immediately  adjacent  to  the  first  market,  and, 
like  the  latter,  lying  along  the  railroad  depot,  which  had  been  lengthened  at  the 
same  time.  This  was  done  in  order  to  make  provision  for  the  increasing  concentration 
of  the  wholesale  market  business.  Both  markets,  with  an  usable  area  of  approxi- 
mately 11,000  square  meters,  have,  however,  been  overcrowded  for  years,  and  it  has 
been  impossible  to  give  any  help  through  the  further  renting  of  city  railway  arches. 

The  wholesale  dealers  of  the  Central  Market  have  become  great  with  its  growth. 
The  scope  of  their  business  and  their  importance  has  increased  from  year  to  year. 
The  Institute  of  the  Municipal  Sales  Agents  of  the  City  has  not  interfered  with  the 
business  of  the  independent  wholesalers,  as  was  feared,  but  has  only  furthered  their 
trade  through  competition.  The  municipal  sales  agents  have  risen  but  slowly  to  their 
present  great  significance  in  the  Central  Market;  their  number,  diminished  from  IS 
to  6,  divides  itself  into  the  single  branches  of  the  wholesale  market  trade;  their  com- 
binations extend  over  the  entire  interior  and  into  foreign  countries,  and  the  extent 
of  the  business  amounts,  for  each  one  of  them,  to  millions  of  marks.  The  provision- 
ing of  Berlin  through  the  Central  Market,  as  far  as  the  receipt  of  stuflfs  is  concerned, 
has  been  just  as  successful  as  in  other  large  cities  having  wholesale  markets.  Its 
source  of  supplies  has  been  extended  to  the  whole  empire  and  also  to  foreign  coun- 
tries. The  Central  Market  of  Berlin  has  a  determining  influence  in  the  widest  sense 
on  the  producing  country  round  about  it,  according  to  its  needs  and  its  prices.  An 
enormous  amount  of  fresh  foodstuffs  flows  daily  to  the  one  spot.  The  goods  are 
just  suited  in  quality  and  quantity  to  the  need  and  the  demands  of  the  metropolis; 
their  prices,  in  so  far  as  they  are  fixed  by  the  wholesale  market  itself,  may  be  called 
low,  and  as  a  result  of  the  steadiness  of  the  supply  are  subject  only  to  minor  varia- 
tions. The  influence  of  insufficient  profits,  it  is  true,  shows  itself  now  and  then  in  a 
certain  weakness  of  business,  but  is  relatively  small,  because  the  needs  of  the  big  city 
do  not  diminish  but,  on  the  contrary,  are  continually  increasing  with  its  incessant 
development.  Bad  crops  and  plagues  influence  the  supply  and  the  level  of  prices,  but 
they  cannot  now  lead  to  such  famines  as  occurred  even  as  late  as  fifty  years  ago. 

Especially  successful  has  been  the  development  of  the  wholesale  market  trade  in 
meat,  which  forms  in  the  city  an  essentially  larger  and  more  important  item  of  diet 
than  it  does  in  the  country.    In  spite  of  the  difficult  business  conditions  under  the 


104 


pressure  of  import  restrictions  and  in  spite  of  the  insufficiency  of  room  in  the  market, 
the  wholesale  trade  in  meats  is  constantly  growing  and  is  controlled  from  the  Central 
Wholesale  Market.  The  wholesale  trade  in  game  and  poultry,  which  was  carried  on 
formerly  at  railroad  stations  only,  has  become  the  standard  for  all  of  North  Ger- 
many. The  wholesale  trade  in  fruit  and  vegetables  has  also  constantly  increased  so 
far  as  the  space  in  the  Central  Market  permits  it. 

Only  the  wholesale  market  in  fish  has  remained  backward,  and  this  is  caused  solely 
by  the  failure  of  the  supply.  The  fishing  in  the  rivers  in  Middle  Germany  is  becom- 
ing less  and  less  profitable  because,  through  the  necessary  regulation,  especially  of 
the  flowing  waters,  the  spawning  places  have  been  done  away  with  in  large  numbers, 
and  the  water  has  become  strongly  polluted  with  sewage  and  chemicals,  and  has 
become  poisonous  for  the  fish.  Better  results  are  obtained  by  the  rather  expensive 
fish  breeding,  which  is  being  carried  on  to  a  constantly  increasing  extent.  The  sea- 
fish  catch  has,  up  to  the  present,  played  but  a  small  part  in  the  Central  Wholesale 
Market  of  Berlin. 

The  sales  at  the  Central  Wholesale  Market  are  carried  on  in  a  perfectly  business- 
like way.  The  free  sale  of  butter,  cheese,  eggs,  and  potatoes  balances  the  increased 
price  of  fish,  game,  poultry,  fruit,  and  vegetables.  The  buyers  are  retailers,  free  and 
market  dealers,  representatives  of  stores,  supervisors  of  canteens,  restaurant  keepers, 
etc.  The  goods  sold  are  taken  away  in  wagons.  The  facilities  for  carting  away  the 
stufif  are  insufficient  because  too  many  of  the  wagons,  up  to  the  closing  of  the  whole- 
sale market,  crowd  the  streets  adjacent  to  the  Central  Market,  which  are  much  too 
narrow  and  entirely  unsuited  for  that  purpose.  The  streets  are  utilized  for  trucking 
to  such  an  extent  that  traffic,  which  in  the  forenoon  is  very  heavy  there  always,  be- 
comes almost  impossible,  and  can  be  kept  up  only  with  great  difficulty  by  the  aid  of 
the  police. 

The  receipts  of  the  Wholesale  Central  Market  are  entirely  cleared  away  every 
day.  The  remnants  find  a  favorable  sale  in  the  traffic  of  street  vendors  in  fresh  food- 
stuffs ;  otherwise  they  are  put,  like  provisions,  in  the  cellars,  in  which  cooling  and 
freezing  compartments  suited  for  the  purpose  are  constantly  coming  more  in  demand. 

Although  only  the  Central  Market  Halls  I  and  la  were  intended  for  the  whole- 
sale trade,  the  city  administration  tried  also  to  establish  wholesale  markets  adjacent 
to  some  of  the  retail  markets.  The  attempts  failed  in  spite  of  the  concessions,  which 
went  as  far  as  the  complete  removal  of  stand  fees,  as  a  result  of  the  concentrating 
power  of  the  wholesale  market.  But,  as  the  wholesale  trade  was  free  to  spread  out- 
side of  the  Central  Wholesale  Market,  there  has  been  developed  in  the  retail  markets 
near  the  periphery  of  the  city  a  wholesale  trade  in  meats  and  vegetables,  which  is 
rather  insignificant,  and  which  is  confined  to  such  stuffs  as  can  still  be  brought  to 
the  markets  by  the  peasants  themselves  from  the  country  nearby — so  that  there  has 
been  retained  in  these  markets,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  part  of  the  former  open  square 
market  traffic. 

There  has  also  been  formed  in  Berlin  a  considerable  free  wholesale  trade  in  fresh 
foodstuffs,  which  is  independent  of  the  municipal  market  organization.  In  spite  of  the 
advantages  of  its  uncontrolled  trade,  as  compared  with  the  wholesale  market  trade,  it 
is  of  small  importance,  although  it  is  of  advantage  in  the  provisioning  of  Berlin.  The 
relation  of  the  two  kinds  of  wholesale  trade  to  each  other  is  hard  to  fix,  because  both 
are  not  separately  recorded  in  the  statistics,  and  because  the  free  wholesale  trade 
occurs  only  in  isolated  instances. 

On  account  of  the  limitations  and  overcrowding  of  the  Central  Market,  a  large 
number  of  new  applicants  among  the  wholesalers  must  be  turned  away.  This  has 
favored  the  settlement  in  the  immediate  ncighl)orhood  of  the  markets  of  a  subsidiary 
wholesale  business,  especially  in  orchard  fruits,  tropical  fruits,  and  fish,  which  is  not 
bound  by  the  limitations  and  rules  of  the  market,  which  holds  its  own  auctions  in  its 


105 


stores,  which  begins  business  earlier  and  carries  it  on  in  the  afternoon  also,  just  as  it 
sees  fit — things  which  are  prohibited  in  the  Wholesale  Market.  In  this  way  it  causes 
severe  loss  to  the  market  wholesale  trade,  so  that  it  is  getting  harder  and  harder, 
especially  for  those  wholesale  dealers  who  are  not  entitled  to  receive  stuff  directly 
from  the  railroad  in  the  market,  in  spite  of  their  undeniable  advantage  in  occupying 
stands,  to  compete  successfully  with  these  outsiders.  A  few  such  outside  wholesale 
dealers  divert  their  stuff,  e.  g.,  poultry  from  Galicia,  immediately  on  its  arrival,  to 
the  Silesian  Railroad  Station,  and  others  buy  up  the  supply  of  carp  before  their  ar- 
rival in  the  Central  Market  for  purpose  of  speculation. 

'  The  Necessity  for  the  New  Location  of  the  Central  Market 

Under  the  existing  conditions  the  Central  Market  is  hampered  in  the  receipt  of 
goods  by  the  insufficiency  of  the  railroad  facilities,  and  it  is  hampered  in  the  further 
development  of  its  wholesale  trade  by  the  insufficiency  of  room  in  the  Halls.  The 
market  wholesaler  cannot  obtain  the  new  space  which  he  requires  as  his  business  in- 
creases from  year  to  year,  and  thus  the  addition  of  new  wholesalers,  which  is  neces- 
sary for  competition,  is  interfered  with,  and  the  settlement  of  the  latter  outside  of  the 
market  halls  leads  to  a  breaking  up  of  the  provisioning  arrangements.  A  radical 
change  has  become  absolutely  necessary  in  order  that  the  unique  business  of  the 
Berlin  Central  Wholesale  Market  may  have  a  development  corresponding  to  the  con- 
tinually growing  demand. 

As  early  as  the  year  1901,  the  Police  Department  informed  the  Mayor  in  reference 
to  the  renting  of  railway  arches  "that  he  could  not  count  on  a  further  concession  in 
the  future;  that,  on  account  of  traffic  and  safety  demands,  it  had  already  become 
necessary  to  prepare  the  Central  Market  for  getting  rid  of  its  wholesale  meat  depart- 
ment." In  the  year  1902,  the  proposal  of  the  railway  officials  to  enlarge  the  market 
depot  because  the  traffic  facilities  were  insufficient,  was  denied.  This  enlargement 
would  have  been  disproportionately  expensive,  and  would  have  required  a  consider- 
able encroachment  on  the  Central  Halls.  At  the  same  time  it  was  decided  to  remove 
the  wholesale  meat  market  which,  on  account  of  its  astonishing  development,  re- 
quired new  facilities  most  urgently.  The  meat  market  occupies  a  singular  position  in 
the  Central  Wholesale  Market  because  of  the  large  supply  which  comes  from  the 
municipal  slaughter  house  by  wagon.  It  requires  special  market  facilities  because 
of  the  extremely  perishable  character  of  the  fresh  meat.  The  new  wholesale  meat 
market  will  be  located  in  the  place  undoubtedly  best  suited  for  it — immediately 
adjacent  to  the  municipal  cattle  pens  and  slaughterhouse,  where  provision  for  exten- 
sion has  been  made  and  where  connection  with  the  railroad  is  assured. 

At  the  same  time,  on  account  of  the  congestion  of  traffic  in  the  Central  Market, 
the  removal  of  the  entire  wholesale  market  trade  was  considered,  and  a  deputation 
was  empowered  to  make  a  trip  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the  markets  of  other 
large  cities;  this  took  place  in  1905.  After  a  thorough  consideration  the  municipal 
authorities  made  the  final  decision,  in  the  year  1909,  to  remove  the  entire  wholesale 
market  trade,  as  well  as  the  wholesale  meat  trade,  to  the  above  mentioned  place  in  the 
northeast  of  Berlin. 

As  a  result  of  this  latest  radical  decision  for  the  provisioning  of  Berlin,  the  city 
stands  before  an  undertaking  of  great  magnitude  and  consequent  significance.  The 
fact  that  the  Central  Market  is  to  be  removed  from  the  center  of  the  city  to  its 
periphery,  and  especially  to  a  neighborhood  which  is  as  yet  little  developed,  cannot  be 
lightly  regarded.  The  loss  that  it  suffers  in  giving  up  its  incomparably  favorable 
location  (which  the  market,  as  a  whole,  can  no  longer  occupy,  and  in  which  it  has 
maintained  itself,  and  would  continue  to  maintain  itself  under  the  burdens  of  re- 
stricted traffic  and  crowded  space)  is  more  than  balanced  by  undeniable  advantages. 


106 


Though  additions  or  extensions  inside  of  the  city  limits  are  out  of  the  question,  the 
business  is  at  least  again  united  in  a  favorable  location  with  the  wholesale  meat 
market  into  a  single  wholesale  market.  There,  the  city  already  has  command  over 
sufficient  land,  and  a  mighty  establishment  having  a  total  value  of  25,000,000  marks 
will  be  created.  A  further  extension  in  railroad  connection  as  well  as  in  market  space 
is  possible  on  the  property  of  the  city,  and  would  otherwise  not  have  been  difficult  in 
this  outlying  district. 

The  establishment  will  be  able  to  maintain  a  railroad  yard  for  market  stuffs  which 
is  not  a  pocket — but  a  through  yard;  and  will  thus  have  the  advantage  of  a  mobile, 
unrestricted,  and  uninterrupted  movement  of  freight  on  the  railroad  which,  besides,  is 
large  enough  for  the  entire  city's  supply  of  fresh  foodstuffs.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
incoming  freight  will  be  at  least  200  railroad  cars  daily — as  against  a  maximum  of 
90  cars  on  the  old  market  railroad  depot. 

The  peripheral  location  of  the  Wholesale  Market  will  hardly  exercise  a  restrain- 
ing influence  on  the  market  wholesale  trade,  for  which  the  location  in  the  city  is  not 
so  essential  as  that  it  be  concentrated  at  a  spot  where  there  are  available  a  large  supply 
and  an  extended  market.  The  new  Wholesale  Market,  on  account  of  its  adequate 
railroad  connections,  its  spaciousness,  and  newness,  will  exercise  a  strongly  attractive 
influence  on  the  entire  wholesale  trade,  and  will,  as  far  as  can  be  seen  in  advance, 
draw  to  itself  a  considerable  part  of  the  existing  free  wholesale  trade,  which  cannot 
but  increase  the  centralization  of  the  receipts  of  stuff  for  the  provisioning  of  the  city. 

The  traffic-crowded  center  of  the  city  will  then  be  rid  of  the  great  numbers  of 
farm  freight  wagons  which  come  night  after  night,  and  also  of  the  distributing  traffic 
which  concentrates  itself  around  the  Central  Market  until  late  into  the  forenoon.  In 
the  periphery  such  concentration  of  traffic  is  much  less  objectionable,  especially  as  the 
streets  will  not  be  used  there  for  the  lining  up  of  wagons,  but  separate  yards  will  be 
provided  for  that  purpose.  That  the  length  of  haul  favorable  only  for  one-quarter  of 
the  city  will  be  considerably  increased  for  the  other  three-quarters  is  worth  only  slight 
consideration  in  placing  the  Wholesale  Market,  which  supplies  only  retailers,  because 
the  latter  have  already  been  compelled  to  waste  much  time  in  getting  supplies.  In 
addition,  the  northeast  section  of  Berlin  shows  the  greatest  density  of  population,  and 
here  lies  also  the  center  of  gravity  of  the  provisioning  system. 

Establishment  of  Market  Halls  for  Distribution 

At  the  time  of  the  open  square  markets  in  Berlin,  as  in  other  large  cities  which 
possess  central  wholesale  markets,  the  retail  trade  in  fresh  food  supplies  was  insig- 
nificant, and  it  was  considered  appropriate  to  allow  the  open  square  markets  to  exist 
in  their  original  form  as  retail  markets.  It  was  expected  that,  especially  when  brought 
under  the  shelter  of  market  halls,  they  would  assist  in  the  distribution  of  market  stuffs 
on  account  of  their  being  scattered  all  over  the  city,  and  as  a  result  the  market  halls 
would  show  a  healthy  development. 

Therefore,  at  the  same  time  that  the  Central  Market  No.  1  was  erected  in  1886,  the 
first  three  retail  market  halls,  II-IV,  were  opened.  They  served  to  replace  the  eight 
open  square  markets  in  the  interior  of  the  city.  In  the  year  1888  four  more  halls, 
V-VIII,  were  opened,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  last  nine  open  square  markets  in 
Berlin  were  closed.  In  the  year  1891  the  last  six  halls,  IX-XIV,  were  opened  in  the 
outlying  districts. 

It  is  of  deep  significance  for  the  provisioning  of  Berlin  that  thus  all  the  open 
square  markets  were  done  away  with  in  the  short  period  of  five  years,  and  have,  to 
a  certain  extent,  been  replaced  by  the  market  halls.  In  this  way  the  transition  from 
the  old  form  of  marketing  took  place  quickly  and  completely,  so  that  the  harmful 
conditions  of  the  period  of  transition  could  not  find  firm  footing.    Only  a  few 


107 


large  cities  have  been  so  fortunate  as  Berlin  in  having  such  simple  conditions  of 
transition. 

The  new  market  halls  could  not  be  so  favorably  located  as  the  open  square 
markets  had  been,  since  it  was  desired  to  free  the  old  market  squares  from  all  market 
traffic  in  the  interest  of  the  ordinary  street  traffic. 

In  the  design  of  the  new  market  halls  it  was  considered  that  the  space,  as-  com- 
pared with  that  occupied  by  the  open  square  market,  could  be  materially  reduced. 
The  old  markets  were  open  only  a  few  days  in  the  week,  while  the  market  halls  could 
be  kept  open  for  business  every  day  in  the  week  for  a  larger  number  of  hours  each 
day.  Many  of  the  stand  keepers  who  successively  kept  stands  in  several  of  the  open 
square  markets  on  the  days  when  they  were  open  needed  now  but  one  daily 
stand  in  the  market  hall.  Room  was,  however,  provided  for  a  number  of  stands  suffi- 
cient to  create  competition  and  to  prevent  an  artificial  fixing  of  prices. 

The  business  in  the  retail  market  halls  in  the  years  1886  to  1892,  from  the 
opening  of  the  first  markets  to  the  closing  of  the  last  open  square  market,  and, 
after  that,  up  to  the  opening  of  the  last  market  halls,  was  under  the  influence  of 
the  transition  stage. 

The  dealers  removed  their  business  to  the  market  halls  with  great  reluctance. 
They  had  worked  up  an  assured  custom  in  the  open  square  markets,  where  they 
had  been  selling  their  wares  on  a  custom  basis  from  year  to  year  on  the  days 
when  the  markets  were  open;  they  had  to  make  up  their  minds  to  hire  fixed  and 
permanent  stands  under  entirely  different  and  unknown  conditions  in  market  halls, 
which  were  not  at  all  so  favorably  located,  in  order  to  carry  on  their  daily  trade 
there.  Many  dealers  therefore  preferred  to  go  to  the  still  existing  open  square 
markets  in  Berlin,  and,  especially  after  their  complete  suppression,  to  the  existing 
open  square  markets  in  the  neighboring  suburban  places.  Some  of  them,  however, 
began  independently,  and  free  from  the  markets  and  halls,  to  carry  on  a  trade  in 
fresh  foodstuffs  in  stores  and  in  the  streets. 

But,  since  the  majority  of  them  at  least  dared  the  attempt  to  make  a  living  in 
the  market  halls,  almost  all  halls  at  the  time  of  opening  showed  a  good,  or  at  least 
tolerable,  occupation.  Also  the  buying  under  the  attraction  of  novelty  was  at  first 
lively,  but  slumped  regularly  and  very  often  very  strongly  as  soon  as  this  attraction 
had  disappeared.  The  occupation  of  the  stands  decreased  noticeably  in  the  follow- 
ing years,  and  in  some  markets  this  decrease  was  very  considerable  in  a  very  short 
time. 

The  favor  of  the  consumers  still  remains  with  the  accustomed  open  square 
markets.  After  the  closing  there  remained  in  many  places  a  generally  unjustified 
prejudice  against  the  market  hall  system,  so  that  even  later  the  buyers  preferred  the 
open  square  markets  in  the  suburbs  and  other  selling  establishments  dealing  in  fresh 
foodstuffs. 

Still,  the  market  hall  system  managed  to  maintain  itself  through  the  period  of 
transition,  the  custom  increased  with  growing  familiarity  with  the  place,  and  with 
increased  business  the  sale  of  the  goods  was  satisfactory  and  profitable. 

Each  market  hall,  in  spite  of  the  uniformity  of  the  undertaking  as  a  whole, 
has  assumed  a  character  of  its  own  which  expresses  itself  in  the  variety,  quality,  and 
grade  of  the  goods,  and  in  the  level  of  the  prices.  In  some  markets  near  the  outer 
limits  of  the  city  producers  from  the  vicinity  occasionally  come,  but  the  stand  keepers 
are  mostly  dealers  who  get  their  goods  from  the  Central  Wholesale  Market.  The 
wholesale  prices,  which  are  daily  made  in  the  latter  place,  therefore  fix  those 
which  are  demanded  in  the  retail  market.  As  a  result  the  custom  of  price  cutting 
formerly  practiced  by  the  dealers  for  the  purpose  of  making  quick  sales  has  been 
considerably  restricted,  and  even  the  few  producers  have  become  used  to  maintain 
the  prices  with  the  other  dealers. 


108 


Failure  of  the  Market  Hall  Trade  and  Simultaneous  Development  of  the 

Free  Retail  Trade 

Only  after  the  passing  of  the  transition  period,  when  all  the  market  places  had  been 
opened  and  the  large  number  of  dealers  who  had  hoped  to  establish  a  lasting  trade 
in  the  markets  had  diminished  to  the  number  of  the  successful  ones  who  remained  in 
the  halls  to  cater  to  the  requirements  of  a  constant  number  of  customers,  begins  the 
normal  market  hall  trade  established  on  permanent  conditions. 

At  the  end  of  the  business  year  1892  it  appeared  that,  of  the  25,500  square  milli- 
meters of  market  space  prepared  for  occupation,  including  the  space  for  retail  trade 
in  the  Central  Market,  about  15,900  square  millimeters  were  utilized  by  the  retail 
trade  in  fresh  foodstuffs;  which  corresponds  to  3,200  stand  keepers  at  most. 

In  order  to  convey  the  meaning  of  this  number  and  to  fix  the  scope  of  the  market 
business  at  that  time  it  is  well  to  present  the  figures  of  the  earlier  open  square  market 
traffic  for  comparison. 

In  the  year  1885,  the  last  under  the  old  provisioning  system,  there  were  distributed 
altogether  about  10,000  stands,  mostly  to  dealers,  in  the  open  markets,  in  each  of 
which  business  was  carried  on  only  a  few  days  in  the  week.  As  the  dealers  carried 
on  business  daily  and,  therefore,  had  taken  stands  in  several  markets  on  different 
market  days,  their  number  amounted  at  most  to  half  the  number  of  the  stands; 
so  that  there  were  probably  5,000  dealers  who  carried  on  the  retail  trade  in  the  open 
square  market;  at  that  time  there  existed,  in  addition,  but  an  insignificant  retail  trade 
in  market  stuffs  in  stores  and  in  street  traffic.  These  5,000  market  dealers  almost 
alone  supplied  the  entire  population  of  Berlin,  which,  in  the  year  1885,  numbered  1,- 
320,000  inhabitants,  so  that  each  dealer  supplied  about  50  households  of  5  persons 
each. 

When  one  considers  that  the  stand  keepers  in  the  market  halls  are  more 
efficient  than  the  open  square  market  dealers  used  to  be,  and  that,  therefore,  their 
circle  of  customers  is  more  extended,  this  widening  of  the  business  area,  as  well 
as  the  departure  of  a  number  of  dealers  to  the  open  square  markets  of  the  suburbs, 
cannot  explain  the  fact  why,  in  the  year  1892,  when  Berlin  had  1,580,000  inhabitants, 
the  market  halls  held  only  3,200  dealers.  Their  number  in  the  markets  has  not  only 
not  increased  with  the  growth  of  population,  but  has  actually  decreased  about  two- 
fifths.  Considering  the  fact  that  the  population,  exceeding  a  million  and  steadily 
growing,  must  depend  necessarily  for  the  supply  of  its  fresh  foodstuffs  on  the 
retail  trade,  one  is  justified  in  the  assumption  that  numerous  retail  dealers  must 
have  found  a  firm  footing  outside  of  the  markets,  and  that  quite  a  number  of  new 
vital  forces  must  have  been  infused  into  this  branch  of  the  free  retail  trade. 

The  occupation  of  the  market  halls,  which  was  small  anyway,  has  shown  through 
the  years  a  continuous  decrease.  At  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  1909,  when  Berlin 
had  a  population  of  about  2,100,000  inhabitants,  it  amounted  to  only  about  13,000 
square  meters,  which  corresponds  at  most  to  2,600  stand  keepers. 

This  decrease  in  the  number  of  market  stand  keepers,  which  is  in  direct  contrast 
to  the  development  in  population,  justifies  the  above  assumption  and  proves  that  the 
retail  trade  in  the  market  halls  is  becoming  less  and  less  important  in  the  distribution 
of  fresh  foodstuffs.  In  contrast  with  this,  the  number  of  retail  store  dealers  has, 
without  doubt,  correspondingly  increased.  The  persistent  decrease  in  the  number  of 
market  dealers  appears  more  significant  when  one  considers  that  a  standstill,  in 
comparison  with  the  great  growth  in  population,  in  itself  shows  a  lack  of  vitality. 

With  the  exception  of  the  retail  trade  in  the  Central  Market  No.  I  not  a  single 
market  hall  has  shown  a  greater  occupation  than  that  which  it  had  in  the  first 
year  of  existence.  In  all  of  them  the  occupation  decreased  from  year  to  year, 
in  many  cases  even  to  a  considerable  extent;  only  a  few  of  them  have  shown  small 


109 


forward  movements,  and  four  of  them  show  a  tolerably  good  standing  and  business 
sufficient  to  make  them  self-supporting. 

The  failure  of  the  retail  market  hall  trade  was  entirely  unexpected,  in  the  light 
of  the  development  of  the  open  square  market,  and  it  appeared  especially  striking 
in  comparison  with  the  splendid  development  of  the  newly  erected  Central  Market 
Hall.  The  authorities  concerned  in  the  task  of  provisioning,  but  especially  the 
municipal  authorities,  the  trade  associations,  and  the  market  stand  keepers  them- 
selves, tried  to  find  out  the  reasons  for  this  phenomenon.  They  uncovered  numer- 
ous factors  which  influenced,  and  are  still  influencing,  the  undertaking  of  the 
retail  market  halls. 

Stress  was  laid  on  the  influence  of  the  hindrances  and  traffic  interferences 
mentioned  above,  and  which  are  caused,  partly,  by  the  market  system  itself;  but 
those  were  only  of  a  passing  nature  and  have  disappeared  almost  entirely. 

Then  the  locations  of  the  markets  within  the  city  were  drawn  under  criticism. 

The  inconsistency  in  the  development,  which  shows  itself  between  Market  No.  I, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  Markets  II,  III,  and  IV,  on  the  other,  and  which  shows  itself, 
also,  in  the  fact  that  the  occupation  of  the  market  stands  in  the  center  of  the 
city  is  barely  maintained  even  in  the  midst  of  a  dense  population,  and  that  those  in 
the  outlying  districts  are  constantly  going  back  in  spite  of  the  increase  of  the 
population  in  those  districts,  forces  one  to  the  conclusion  that  the  main  cause  for  the 
failure  of  the  whole  undertaking  cannot  lie  in  the  location  of  the  markets. 

Then  the  competition  of  the  retail  trade  in  fresh  foodstuffs  outside  of  the  market 
halls  was  made  a  subject  of  investigation. 

The  severest  and  most  successful  competition  for  the  entire  market  retail  trade 
in  Berlin  has  arisen  with  the  rise  of  free  retail  dealers  in  fresh  foodstuffs,  who  are 
not  kept  together  in  the  halls  and  who  obtain  the  provisions  from  the  Central 
Wholesale  Market  like  the  others.  They  have  arisen  under  free  competition,  while 
the  market  hall  trade  has  been  bolstered  up  by  a  monopoly. 

At  the  time  of  the  open  square  markets  there  were  in  existence  food  stores;  but 
after  the  introduction  of  the  new  market  system  they  began  to  increase  in  number. 
Their  spread  was  favorably  influenced  by  the  fact  that  the  number  of  retail  trade 
places  in  fresh  foodstuffs  was  diminished  by  the  erection  of  the  halls,  since  each 
hall  was  intended  to  replace  several  open  square  markets.  In  this  way  marketing 
was  made  more  difficult  for  many  consumers  by  the  greater  distance  of  the  household 
from  the  market.  The  spread  of  this  free  retail  trade  took  place  the  faster  the 
more  the  new  market  went  back.  At  first  the  free  retailers  were  to  be  found  only 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  markets,  in  order  to  take  advantage  of  the  business  going 
on  there,  or  they  settled  down  around  the  squares  formerly  occupied  by  open  square 
markets,  where  cellars  and  stores  on  the  ground  floors  of  apartment  houses  had 
been  constructed  for  them. 

Beginning  with  the  former  market  centers  and  halls  they  settled  all  over  the  city 
in  increasing  numbers,  according  to  demand.  The  first  ones  who  made  use  of  the 
freedom  from  market  restriction  and  of  favorable  location  were  meat  dealers  and 
dairy  product  dealers;  they  were  followed  by  dealers  in  other  market  stuffs,  especially 
in  fruit  and  vegetables. 

The  small  retail  trade  is  carried  on  mostly  in  small  stores,  in  which  the  dealers 
have  the  not  unimportant  advantage  over  those  in  the  market  that  the  store  is  con- 
nected with  the  residence,  and  that  the  wife  can  take  care  of  the  retail  trade  while 
the  husband  attends  to  obtaining  stuff  from  the  wholesale  market.  But,  aside  from 
this,  there  have  also  been  formed  numerous  large  establishments,  which  have  a 
number  of  self-sustaining  branch  stores  all  over  the  city  or  in  single  districts  of 
the  city;  finally  the  larger  department  stores  have  installed  foodstuff  departments. 

The  market  trade  is  furthermore  influenced  by  the  wandering  street  trade.  At 


110 


the  time  of  the  open  square  markets  the  producers  (farmers)  made  use  of  the 
privilege  of  selling  directly  from  their  wagons  or  of  going  with  their  baskets 
from  house  to  house ;  and  when  the  market  halls  were  opened  the  street  trade,  which 
was  carried  on  in  the  simplest  fashion,  began  to  grow  noticeably.  Enterprising 
men  supplied  themselves,  mostly  on  credit,  with  fresh  foodstuffs,  especially  fruit, 
vegetables,  fish,  and  even  flowers  from  the  unsold  daily  remnants  of  the  market 
wholesale  dealers,  which  were  sold  cheaply  to  them.  Then,  with  basket  or  wagon, 
they  went  through  the  streets  or  stopped  as  long  as  they  could  at  suitable  places, 
especially  at  street  crossings,  and  sold  out  of  hand  or  directly  from  the  wagon. 
This  simple  and  inexpensive  trade  gives  poorer  people  a  chance  to  make  a  living  and 
has  drawn  to  itself  for  this  reason  a  considerable  number  of  the  dealers  of  the 
former  open  square  markets,  and  also  many  of  those  in  the  market  halls  who  have 
lost  their  means  with  the  failure  of  the  markets.  Since  the  street  peddlers  sell  their 
goods  cheaply  and  can  go  wherever  there  is  need  of  them  they  have  an  assured 
and  large  trade. 

Next,  the  street  peddlers  began  to  congregate  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  markets, 
especially  in  the  center  of  the  city,  and  drew  away  the  market  customers  at  their 
doors.  There  were  formed  in  the  approach  streets  complete  street  markets  where 
from  30  to  even  133  street  peddlers  could  be  counted,  most  of  them  with  wagons. 
They  would  wait  in  long  lines  at  the  street  curbs,  and  they  formed,  in  a  certain  sense, 
markets  in  their  primitive  condition  without  regulation  or  order,  by  circumventing  the 
prohibition  of  the  open  square  market. 

The  growth  of  the  wandering  street  traffic,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  the  markets 
of  the  outlying  town  districts,  had  a  great  influence  on  their  business.  The  existing 
regulations  and  stricter  enforcement  of  the  market  rules  were  not  sufficient  to  remove 
the  street  traffic  even  within  the  markets,  entrance  to  which  could  not  be  denied  to  the 
"flying"  dealers  with  their  goods,  who  claimed  that  they  wanted  to  buy  something 
in  the  market.  Punishment  was  without  effect,  for  many  of  the  smaller  dealers, 
who  lived  from  hand  to  mouth,  were  unable  to  pay  the  fines  which  were  imposed 
and  were  the  more  willing  to  take  a  prison  sentence,  since  they  were  then  in  a  better 
condition,  especially  in  winter,  than  if  they  carried  on  their  calling.  But  the  condi- 
tions in  the  vicinities  of  the  markets,  which  had  become  unbearable,  made  it  necessary 
to  take  steps  against  the  street  traffic,  and  the  city  administration  yielded  to  the  police 
demands  after  considerable  hesitation.  It  was  inclined  at  first  to  deny  the  request 
of  the  police  because  it  could  not  be  convinced  of  the  necessity  and  advantage  of 
regulation  which  cut  so  deeply  into  the  retail  trade  conditions  of  the  whole  city, 
and  because  it  was  fundamentally  inclined  to  set  aside  regulations  interfering  with 
a  custom  which  enabled  many  poor  people,  the  economically  weaker  members  of 
the  community,  old  and  otherwise  incapacitated  men,  to  make  an  honest,  although 
rather  unremunerative,  living,  and  so  decreased  the  number  of  paupers. 

Through  the  police  regulation  of  the  year  1898  street  traflSc  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
halls  was  prohibited,  although  not  entirely  removed,  and  so  at  a  later  date  crowded 
back  from  the  market  halls,  it  spread  to  the  more  remote  streets  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  city  administration  was  forced  to  take  much  severer  steps  against  the 
street  traffic  and  to  restrict  it  to  narrow  limits  in  the  interest  of  the  city's  own  market 
halls  and  that  of  the  dealers  doing  business  in  them,  as  well  as  in  the  interest  of 
the  entire  retail  trade  in  fresh  foodstuffs  which  occupied  stores.  The  regulation  of 
1894  serves  to  prevent  the  congregation  of  great  numbers  of  street  peddlers  in  one 
place,  or  their  stopping  for  a  long  period  on  the  chief  avenues.  The  city  administra- 
tion, however,  is  still  unfavorably  inclined  toward  the  demands  of  the  rent-paying 
retail  dealers  to  restrict  further,  or  entirely  remove,  the  street  traffic,  which,  in 
some  respects,  is  indispensable. 

All  the  attempts  of  the  city  administration  to  further  the  trade  of  the  markets,  and 


Ill 


all  the  concessions  to  the  requirements  of  the  market  dealers  have  been  without 
lasting  result.  In  the  markets  which  showed  the  greatest  retrogression  the  stand 
fees  were  repeatedly  lowered  to  a  considerable  extent.  At  first  this  led  regularly  to 
an  increase  in  the  number  of  stand  occupants,  since  many  of  the  old  stand  keepers 
enlarged  their  stands  and  new  dealers  dared  to  rent  them.  But  just  these  new  men 
were  the  first  to  be  disappointed  in  their  expectations,  and  almost  all  of  them 
departed  in  a  short  time;  as  a  result  of  which  the  city  administration  discontinued 
such  lowerings  of  fees  as  having  no  relative  influence.  The  failure  of  the  market 
business  cannot  be  ascribed  to  the  magnitude  of  the  stand  fees,  which  are  mostly 
lower  than  store  rents.  The  stand  fees  play  but  a  small  part  in  a  good  going 
business,  and  when  trade  fails,  the  reduction  does  not  compensate  for  the  loss. 

Since  all  attempts  to  revive  the  trade  were  without  result  the  city  administration 
was  forced  to  close  those  market  halls  which  showed  the  greatest  falling  off  for 
market  purposes,  and  to  use  them  for  other  purposes,  so  that  in  the  year  1898  Market 
No.  XII  was  closed;  in  the  year  1909,  Market  No.  Ill;  in  the  year  1910,  Market 
No.  XIII ;  and  it  seems  that  in  a  short  time  more  will  have  to  be  closed.  The  closing 
of  the  market  halls  to  the  retail  trade  has  been  because  the  fact  was  recognized  that 
the  undertaking  was  a  failure. 

Cause  of  the  Failure  of  the  Retail  Markets 

The  fact  that  the  retail  trade  shows  activity  only  in  the  Central  Market  indicates 
the  reason  for  the  deterioration  of  the  retail  markets  side  by  side  with  flourishing 
retail  stores  of  other  kinds.  In  the  Central  Market  almost  all  wholesalers,  with  the 
exception  of  the  wholesale  meat  dealers,  carry  on  at  their  stands  a  retail  trade,  after 
the  conclusion  of  the  wholesale  business.  As  the  goods  sold  here  are  entirely  fresh, 
without  having  suffered  through  passing  through  the  intermediate  trade,  the  retail 
trade  of  that  place  is  lively  and  constantly  developing.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  central  market  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  business  locality  which  is  losing 
resident  population  rapidly,  buyers  in  addition  to  the  consumers  themselves,  come 
there,  mostly  by  the  street  railway,  from  distant  places  all  over  the  city  in  order  to 
take  advantage  of  the  favorable  conditions  at  the  Central  Market. 

The  retail  trade  in  the  Central  Market  corresponds  to  the  sale  of  the  market 
goods  in  an  open  square  city  market,  which  controls  the  entire  provisioning  of  its 
city  by  combining  in  itself  the  receipt  and  the  distribution.  Through  the  closing  of  the 
open  square  markets  in  Berlin,  the  close  connection  between  receipt  and  distribution 
was  broken,  and  the  latter  was  dissociated  from  the  receiving  market,  except  for 
the  small  fraction  of  the  retail  trade  carried  on  by  the  wholesaler  in  the  Central 
Market.  The  retail  markets  erected  for  the  purpose  of  replacing  the  open  square 
retail  markets  are  therefore  really  not  markets  at  all  in  the  old  sense.  Since  they  are 
not  places  where  goods  must  necessarily  be  received  they  lack  the  significance  of 
markets,  which  is  the  secret  of  the  success  of  the  open  square  retail  market;  in 
addition,  they  lack  the  essential  feature  of  market  procedure,  the  formation  of  prices, 
since  these  are  already  fixed  at  their  lower  limit  by  the  selling  prices  in  the  central 
market. 

Through  the  organization  of  the  Central  Market  not  only  has  the  dissociation  of 
the  receipt  from  the  distribution  taken  place  and  the  first  part  of  the  problem  in  the 
provisioning  of  big  cities  been  solved,  but  there  has  also  been  accomplished  a  com- 
plete transformation  in  the  business  of  distribution.  On  the  foundation  of  the 
wholesale  market,  which  centralizes  the  supply  and  forms  the  prices,  there  has  been 
created  a  system  of  decentralization  to  suit  the  demand  of  the  widely  scattered 
consumers  of  fresh  foodstuffs;  and  in  this  way  the  second  part  of  the  problem  of 
the  provisioning  of  large  cities  has  also  been  solved;  viz.,  that  of  distribution. 


112 


Under  these  circumstances  the  conclusion  to  be  drawn  for  the  future  is  that  the 
business  of  the  retail  markets  is  bound  to  be  completely  extinguished  the  more 
decentralization  of  the  free  retail  trade  establishes  itself. 

The  existence  of  the  retail  market  halls,  however,  has  safeguarded  the  transition 
from  the  old  form  of  distribution  through  retail  markets  to  the  new  form  through 
retail  dealers  from  the  severe  shocks  which  might  have  become  of  serious  moment 
to  the  entire  provisioning  system  of  Berlin. 


The  Organization  of  the  Provisioning  System  for  the  Population  of  Large  Cities 

Significance  of  the   Wholesale  Trade  in  the  Central  Wholesale  Market  for  the 

Receipt  of  Foodstuffs 

As  far  as  economic  processes  can  be  at  all  influenced  by  organization  the  provision- 
ing of  large  cities  with  fresh  foodstuffs  has  been  effectively  solved  by  the  organization 
of  the  Central  Wholesale  Market. 

In  the  process  of  provisioning  the  market  forms  the  necessary  meeting  point  for 
the  converging  supply  and  the  diverging  distribution ;  in  the  smaller  city  this  necessary 
point  is  supplied  by  the  open  square  market  and  in  the  larger  city  by  the  central 
wholesale  market.  The  magnitude  of  metropolitan  cities,  however,  forces  the  pro- 
duction and  consumption  so  far  apart  that  the  immediate  transfer  of  fresh  food- 
stuffs from  one  to  the  other  becomes  impossible.  The  central  wholesale  market  serves 
only  the  intermediate  wholesale  trade,  while  the  producers  and  consumers,  for 
whom  going  to  the  markets  of  the  large  city  has  been  made  difficult  or  impossible, 
remain  outside  of  the  organization.  The  intermediate  market  wholesale  trade  has 
remained  the  only  tangible  connecting  member  in  the  dismembered  organization  of 
the  provisioning  of  large  cities,  which  leads  from  the  isolated  units  of  production  in 
the  countrj'  through  the  ramified  buying  trade,  through  the  localized  market  whole- 
sale trade,  and  through  the  extensive  retail  trade  of  the  large  cities  to  the  dispersed 
consumers  of  the  large  cities.  The  system  of  provisioning  metropolitan  populations 
depends  upon  the  business  skill  of  the  market  wholesale  trade.  Impelled  by  its  own 
interest  it  becomes  an  active  tool  in  the  provisioning  system  and  by  its  means  the  latter 
is  accomplished  in  an  impersonal  and  matter  of  fact  way.  quickly  and  surely,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  millions  of  inhabitants. 

At  the  same  time  the  problem  of  the  centralization  of  the  receipts  is  also  solved. 
The  central  market  has  a  stimulating  influence  on  the  wholesale  trade,  because 
it  gives  the  latter  facilities  to  carry  on  its  business.  Toward  it,  therefore,  there 
is  a  constant  flow  of  the  independent  wholesale  trade  which  generally  begins  and 
matures  outside  of  the  market  of  the  large  city.  This  concentration  effects,  in  its 
turn,  an  increasing  aggregation  of  fresh  foodstuffs  in  the  wholesale  market;  and 
thus  results  the  centralization  of  the  receipts,  which  is  the  essential  condition  for 
a  system  of  metropolitan  provisioning  through  the  concentrated  market  wholesale 
trade. 

The  market  wholesale  trade  which  tends  to  become  monopolistic  and  inclines 
to  price  fixing  and  raising  by  holding  back  or  interfering  with  the  supply  is  com- 
pletely rounded  out  by  the  establishment  by  the  city  authorities  of  the  Institute  of 
Municipal  Salesagents — the  establishment  being  legitimate  and  necessary.  This  Insti- 
tute gives  the  Central  Wholesale  Market  its  character  of  an  open  communal  estab- 
lishment, in  contrast  with  the  purely  commercial  tendency  of  the  independent  market 
wholesalers.  The  sales  agents,  who  cannot  carry  on  any  trade  on  their  own  account, 
derive  a  profit  only  from  the  open  auctions,  which  they  alone  are  empowered  to  hold. 
Through  them  the  Central  Wholesale  Market  becomes  an  exchange  for  products; 


113 


there  is  created  a  consignment  trade  in  which  the  known  producer  sends  his  goods  to 
the  known  agent  for  a  buyer  who  is  not  yet  known.  According  to  a  fixed  rule  the 
goods  sent  thus  to  the  market  have  to  be  sold  for  spot  cash  to  the  retail  dealers  of 
the  city,  and  it  enables  the  smaller  farmers  who  are  far  removed  from  the  central 
market  and  who  cannot  personally  come  to  the  city  market  to  take  part  in  supplying 
the  market  by  sending  their  goods  by  the  swiftest  routes  to  the  Central  Wholesale 
Market,  and  by  leaving  their  sale  to  the  agents,  who  give  them  immediate  cash  pay- 
ment. Thus  through  them  an  extension  and  strengthening  of  the  basis  of  produc- 
tion are  effected  and  goods  are  attracted  to  the  market  and  sold  with  the  greatest 
rapidity.  The  full  value  of  a  dependable  and  skilled  sales  agency  shows  itself  espe- 
cially at  times  when  there  is  a  sudden  shortage  in  supplies. 

The  Central  Wholesale  Market  has  raised  the  entire  market  system  of  the  city 
to  a  higher  and  more  efficient  plane.  The  supply  of  the  needs  of  the  city  does  not 
depend  any  more  on  the  whim  of  producers  or  commission  merchants;  it  has  be- 
come the  business  interest  of  the  market  wholesale  dealers,  united  in  the  central 
market  and  powerful  in  their  union,  who  make  the  constant  and  always  increasing  need 
of  the  city  the  constant  soprce  of  their  profits.  The  enormous  extent  of  the  field 
of  production  and  the  wide  sources  of  the  supply  enable  them  to  play  off  against 
each  other  the  over  and  under-production  of  the  various  localities  and  to  even  up 
the  supply  before  fluctuations  can  take  place.  The  steadying  of  the  supply  is  a  great 
advantage  for  the  Wholesale  Market  and  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  chief  requirement 
in  the  provisioning  system  of  a  large  city. 

The  business  policy  of  the  market  wholesalers  furthers  the  solution  of  this 
problem  in  a  similar  way  by  steadying  the  prices;  for,  on  the  one  hand,  the  fact 
that  they  are  independent  of  the  local  producers  prevents  dictation  of  prices  on 
their  part,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  wholesale  dealers  themselves  cannot  fix 
prices,  but  are  forced  to  keep  them  in  the  Central  Market  within  normal  bounds 
by  the  great  influx  of  stuffs,  and  especially  by  the  competition  of  the  sales  agents. 

The  communal  and  public  character  of  the  Central  Wholesale  Market  exercises  a 
bettering  influence  on  the  processes  of  the  market  business.  Arbitrary  acts  on  the 
part  of  the  market  wholesale  dealers  toward  the  producers,  the  commission  merchants, 
or  the  retailers  are  no  more  possible;  and  too  great  inequality  in  profits  is  .prac- 
tically excluded  because  the  business  skill  and  the  organization  of  the  trade  work 
against  it,  particularly  under  the  strict  and  constant  pressure  of  competition. 

Under  the  secure  and  well  regulated  conditions  of  the  Central  Wholesale  Market 
the  auction  sales  and  also  the  further  sales  to  the  retailers  of  the  city  are  quickly  and 
simply  acomplished.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  market  stuffs  require  especially  careful 
handling  and  can  be  dealt  in  only  after  a  personal  inspection  of  their  freshness, 
quality,  and  appearance,  the  receipts  of  each  day  are  cleared  away  in  the  few  hours 
of  the  early  morning;  and  this  is  done  in  the  same  way  day  after  day.  The  occa- 
sional excess  goes  either  to  the  cooling  rooms  or  to  the  provinces,  while  the  daily 
remnants  go  toward  provisioning  the  city  by  the  street  trade. 

With  prices  universally  rising  it  cannot  be  determined  whether  any  relative 
cheapening  of  fresh  foodstuffs  has  actually  taken  place  as  a  result  of  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Central  Wholesale  Market.  In  Berl  m  m  the  first  few  years  after  the 
reorganization  of  its  market  system  the  price  reports  showed  in  no  case  a  higher 
level,  in  some  cases  even  a  lower  level,  than  obtained  in  the  earlier  open  square 
market.  It  is  aimed  to  oljtain  low  prices,  especially  through  the  sales  agencies; 
the  payments  are  made  as  far  as  possible  in  spot  cash,  and  the  burden  of  excessive 
credit  to  the  buyer,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  raise  prices,  is  disappearing  more  and 
more. 

The  regular  official  publications  of  the  market  prices  obtained  daily  enable  the 
authorities,  as  well  as  all  others  who  take  part  in  the  provisioning,  to  study  condi- 


114 


tions  intelligently;  in  addition,  it  gives  the  distant  producers  constantly  the  oppor- 
tunity to  decide  whether  and  to  what  extent  the  sale  of  their  products  in  the  Central 
Wholesale  Market  would  be  of  advantage. 

The  Significance  of  the  Decentralized  Retail  Trade  for  the  Distribution  of  Foodstuffs 

While  the  open  square  market  of  the  city  combines  in  itself  the  functions  of  receipt 
and  distribution,  the  Central  Wholesale  Market  of  the  large  city  serves  only  for  the 
receipt  of  foodstuffs,  and  for  their  sale  to  the  retailers.  It  is  these  who  carry  on 
the  distribution  of  the  stuffs  through  retail  trade  among  the  consumers.  The 
wider  the  organization  of  the  central  market  and  the  more  perfect  its  functions  the 
easier  it  is  for  the  retail  trade  to  supply  itself  with  stuffs. 

The  free  retail  trade  meets  in  every  way  the  demands  for  the  provisioning  of 
the  population  of  the  big  city,  because  it  is  not  tied  down  to  a  few  fixed  trading  places 
inside  of  the  city,  but  may  settle  down  in  stores,  and  so  count  on  a  sure  and  sufficient 
custom  trade;  or  it  may  seek  opportunities  for  sale  in  the  more  mobile  street  traffic. 
The  varied  distribution  of  the  working  hours  in  the  callings  in  a  big  city  do  not 
allow  a  uniform  subdivision  of  the  day  for  every  household.  In  addition  to  this  in 
a  large  city  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  places  of  employment  are  far  from  the 
homes  of  the  workers,  and  many  female  members  of  households,  who  have  to  do 
the  buying  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  are  obliged  to  work  to  some  extent  for  a  living, 
either  in  or  outside  of  the  home.  Instead  of  making  it  necessary  to  buy  the  daily 
foodstuffs  for  the  household  in  distant  market  halls  and  retail  markets,  the  free 
retail  trade  offers  the  great  advantage  of  a  retail  store  located  near  the  house  and 
very  often  in  it,  and  one  that  can  be  reached  quickly  every  day  at  any  hour.  The 
goods  are  uniformly  priced  and  the  slight  increase  in  price  resulting  from  the  high 
store  rents  is  repaid  by  the  saving  in  time.  For  the  saying  "Time  is  money"  has  no 
better  application  than  in  the  life  of  large  city  populations. 

The  number  of  retail  dealers  in  fresh  foodstuffs  who  occupy  stores  in  the  city  is 
considerable,  and,  under  the  favorable  influence  of  an  increasing  demand,  it  is 
constantly  growing.  They  adjoin  each  other  more  or  less  closely  in  the  several  parts 
of  the  city  according  to  the  density  of  population ;  and  their  circles  of  customers  over- 
lap each  other.  Competition  regulates  the  prices,  and  the  large  number  and  the 
constant  addition  of  new  competitors  prevent  completely  and  without  coercion  the 
excessive  raising  of  prices  on  the  part  of  this  or  that  retailer.  Nevertheless,  the 
range  of  prices,  as  well  as  the  quality  of  the  goods  offered  within  the  entire  limits 
of  the  city,  varies  according  to  the  varying  means  of  the  population. 

Of  special  significance  to  the  distribution  is  the  wandering  street  trade.  The 
small  expense,  the  absence  of  all  rents,  and  the  small  price  paid  for  the  goods,  which 
are  mostly  just  as  fresh  as  in  the  stores,  enables  the  street  trade  to  supply  very 
cheaply  the  economically  weaker  strata  of  the  population.  In  addition  the  low  prices 
obtained  in  the  street  traffic  depress  those  of  the  retail  stores  dealing  with  fresh 
foodstuffs,  which  fact  cannot  but  be  of  advantage  in  the  provisioning  of  the  city 
population. 

In  comparison  with  the  free  retail  trade  business  carried  on  in  retail  markets  is 
decidedly  at  a  disadvantage;  it  is  clear  that  the  city  population  seeks  the  retail  mar- 
kets and  the  market  halls  as  long  as  there  does  not  exist  an  adequate  free  retail 
trade,  but  prefers  the  latter  unconditionally  as  soon  as  it  is  established.  The  ar- 
tificial crowding  together  of  the  retail  dealers  who  carry  on  the  distribution  is  justified 
only,  and  even  in  this  case  is  not  always  necessary,  when  there  exists  an  especially 
dense  and  evenly  distributed  neighboring  population.  But  a  municipal  retail  market 
system  can  be  kept  up  only  when  it  is  protected  by  the  trade  being  forced,  when 


115 


the  market  retail  trade  enjoys  a  monopoly,  as  in  London,  or  when,  in  its  interests,  the 
free  retail  trade  is  kept  back  or  is  hindered  in  its  growth,  as  has  happened  to  a 
certain  extent  in  Berlin  with  the  wandering  street  trade  for  the  protection  of  the 
small  retail  storekeeper,  or  as  is  the  case  universally  in  Leipsic.  But  such  measures 
are  of  doubtful  value  to  the  provisioning  system,  because  they  may  result  in  making 
the  distribution  as  a  whole  among  the  large  city  population  more  difficult. 


Participation  of  the  City  Administration  in  the  System  of  Provisioning 

Fostering  the  Market  Wholesale  Trade 

Efficiency  and  the  necessity  of  the  inhabitants  justify,  and,  in  fact,  make  it 
the  duty  of  the  city  administration,  as  the  representative  of  the  people,  to  shape  and 
to  maintain,  in  the  best  possible  manner,  in  the  interests  of  the  entire  population  the 
business  of  provisioning,  because  it  is  essential  for  the  healthy  development  of  the 
city.  The  administration  has  the  sole  power  to  organize  the  whole  system  of  pro- 
visioning of  the  city  for  the  general  welfare.  Without  regard  to  profits  and  to 
the  interests  of  individuals,  the  city  administration  can  assume  an  attitude  toward  the 
state  authorities,  the  producers,  and  the  dealers  which  is  based  on  a  knowledge  of 
the  situation,  and  it  can  thus  carry  out  an  adequate  system  of  provisioning. 

Provisioning  a  large  city  is  no  field  for  experiements  in  communism;  it  requires 
the  utmost  care  in  its  treatment  and  the  consideration  of  all  essential  factors. 
Only  when  the  system  is  kept  strictly  to  its  purpose,  but  as  far  as  possible  free  in 
its  form,  can  difficulties  be  avoided  which  would  interfere  with  its  efficiency  instead 
of  furthering  it.  Expenses  which  cannot  be  defrayed  by  the  traffic  itself  need  not 
necessarily  be  balked  at,  because  the  provisioning  of  the  city  population  is  of  greater 
importance  than  the  amount  of  the  tax  it  may  impose. 

The  principal  demands  on  the  city  administration  are  made  by  the  central  whole- 
sale market. 

A  connection  with  the  net  of  railroads  is  the  first  requisite  of  a  really  metropoli- 
tan market.  Only  by  this  means  is  it  possible  to  bring  to  the  city  effectively  and 
rapidly  the  necessary  daily  supply  of  the  most  highly  perishable  foodstuffs  from  a 
widely  extended  field  of  production.  Every  rehandling  increases  the  difficulty  and 
the  cost  of  the  supply.  The  administration  of  the  city  should  try  to  obtain  low  special 
rates  and  special  facilities  from  the  railroads,  improvements  in  the  transportation 
arrangements,  such  as  the  introduction  of  refrigerating  cars,  and,  finally,  to  induce 
the  existing  local  railroads  to  take  part  in  the  local  market  traffic. 

The  wholesale  market  trade  is  better  carried  on  in  a  market  hall  than  in  an  open 
square.  The  advantages  of  a  market  building,  viz.,  isolation  of  the  market,  shelter 
for  the  dealers,  the  buyers,  and  the  goods,  greater  order  and  ease  of  supervision, 
greatly  facilitate  the  market  wholesale  trade,  which,  besides,  must  take  place  every 
evening  under  artificial  illumination.  Each  of  the  several  halls,  which  are  divided 
off  from  one  another  for  the  several  branches  of  the  wholesale  market,  should  be 
appropriately  fitted  up  and  made  sufficiently  large  to  accommodate,  without  crowding, 
the  entire  market  wholesale  trade  within  given  limits,  and  also  to  offer  room  for  its 
normal  development.  For  the  seasonal  requirements  places  in  fenced-off  yards 
outside  of  the  halls  should  be  provided ;  these  yards  are  also  required  to  pro- 
vide standing  room  for  the  wagons  which  bring  in  supplies,  and  still  more  so 
for  those  which  take  them  away.  The  construction  of  cooling  and  freezing  cham- 
bers requires  special  consideration. 

Traffic  in  the  central  wholesale  market  must  be  carried  on  with  the  single 
idea  in  mind  that  the  transfer  of  the  fresh  foodstuffs  from  the  producer  to  the 


116 


consumer  in  and  beyond  the  central  market  must  take  place  with  the  greatest  rapidity 
and  with  the  most  careful  handling  of  the  goods,  because  the  process  of  pro- 
visioning a  large  city  is  at  best  involved  and  tedious. 

The  central  wholesale  market  needs  the  guidance  of  a  single  head.  The  ad- 
ministration of  a  great  city  is  generally  not  fitted  for  that  purpose  because  it  con- 
sists of  two  parts,  the  legislative  and  the  administrative,  etc. 

The  wholesale  market  trade  should  be  permitted  perfect  freedom,  yet  it  must  be 
subject  to  the  city  administration,  in  order  that  it  may  work  in  the  interest  of 
the  people  of  the  city.  By  the  establishment  of  the  municipal  sales  agency  and 
the  official  market  publications,  a  constant  and  sufficiently  controlling  influence  over 
the  market  wholesale  trade  is  exercised.  The  independence  of  the  system  of  pro- 
visioning the  city  should  be  maintained  by  making  it  self-sustaining  as  far  as  possible 
without  letting  it  be  an  object  of  fiscal  exploitation. 

Furthering  of  the  Free  Retail  Trade 

In  relation  to  retail  distribution  the  inevitable  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the 
development  in  Berlin  is  that  the  city  administration  must  not  confine  its  care  to  the 
municipal  retail  market  halls,  but  must,  in  the  interest  of  provisioning  the  population, 
give  its  attention  to  the  entire  retail  trade  in  fresh  foodstuffs.  It  will  facilitate  thus 
the  transformation  of  the  market  retail  trade,  which  in  the  municipal  halls  failed, 
and  might  in  a  certain  sense  regard  the  city  administration  as  responsible  for  this 
failure. 

It  is  not  so  much  a  question  of  immediate  interference  as  of  a  general  furthering 
of  all  factors  concerned  in  the  distribution,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  business  and 
the  necessary  decentralization. 

The  retail  dealers  in  foodstuffs,  especially  the  smaller  ones,  work  under  difficult 
conditions.  To  obtain  a  daily  supply  of  fresh  stuffs  from  the  central  market  requires 
a  considerable  capital.  As  this  is  not  always  available,  it  has  become  customary 
for  the  wholesale  trade  to  give  credit  to  the  retail  trade,  which  naturally  goes 
hand  in  hand  with  dependence  and  preference,  and  which,  on  the  one  hand, 
prevents  the  free  formation  of  the  provisioning  system,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
requires  the  payment  of  high  interest  for  the  capital  obtained;  so  that  the  credit 
trade  finally  throws  a  burden  on  the  consumers  in  the  form  of  higher  prices. 
It  is  in  the  interest  of  the  consumers  to  eliminate  the  giving  of  credit  from  the 
wholesale  trade,  so  that  it  may  not  become  a  great  evil ;  and  to  get  together  and 
encourage  loan  funds  maintained  cooperatively  by  the  retail  dealers,  which  will  make  it 
easier  for  them  to  pay  spot  cash  for  their  goods. 

In  addition  to  selling  the  stuff  the  retail  dealers  have  to  travel  daily  in  the 
early  hours  of  the  morning  to  buy  their  goods  in  the  central  market  and  to  take 
them  to  their  stores.  The  transportation  of  goods  wastes  much  of  their  time  and 
is  very  expensive  because  it  requires  the  men  to  keep  wagons  on  account  of  the 
great  distance  of  many  stores  from  the  central  market.  This  early  morning  traffic 
may  be  organized  by  the  city  administration,  or  at  least  aided  by  it,  by  means  of 
market  freight  cars  on  the  street  railways,  which  are  little  or  not  at  all  used  by 
passengers  in  the  early  morning  hours ;  this  would  facilitate  the  transportation  of 
the  stuff  for  the  retail  dealers.  Freight  automobile  trucks,  on  account  of  their  greater 
speed,  can  serve  the  same  purpose,  especially  for  the  more  remote  parts  of  the 
city  and  for  the  suburbs.  In  spite  of  the  considerable  cost  such  market  traffic  enter- 
prises should  be  created  by  the  city  administration,  because  they  enable  the  retail 
dealers  in  fresh  foodstuffs  to  dispense  with  their  own  wagons. 

The  existing  retail  market  halls  can  be  made  to  be  of  service  to  the  distributing 
trade  in  two  ways:     First,  since  they  are  provided  with  store-rooms  containing 


117 


cooling  chambers,  they  may  be  used  as  markets  where  the  wholesale  trade  may  carry 
on  sales  to  the  retail  trade  independently  of  the  central  wholesale  market,  and 
thus  considerably  shorten  the  length  of  haul.  Secondly,  most  of  them,  and  espe- 
cially those  fronting  on  busy  streets,  can  be  used  for  retail  trade  if  stores  fronting 
on  the  streets  are  fitted  up  in  them.  The  city  administration  is,  moreover,  in  a 
position  to  fix  up  similar  rows  of  stores  wherever  possible — in  buildings  and  on 
its  unoccupied  lots — which  can  be  of  service  to  the  retail  trade.  Not  having  to 
count  on  profits  the  city  administration  can  rent  out  such  spaces  much  more  cheaply 
than  the  private  property  owners,  and  by  this  competition  can  force  down  excessively 
high  rents  to  a  healthy  level  and  thus  aid  the  provisioning  system. 

The  city  administration  and  the  police  authorities  must  exercise  the  same  super- 
vision for  the  entire  provisioning  system  as  they  did  in  the  more  restricted  market 
system.  A  thorough  inspection  of  all  fresh  foodstuffs  from  the  time  of  their 
arrival  at  the  central  wholesale  market  to  the  time  of  their  sale  to  individuals  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  a  model  provisioning  system.  Overcharges  and  dishonesty  by 
the  dealers  are  to  be  prevented  and  to  be  punished  most  severely,  and  a  sanitary 
handling  of  the  goods  is  to  be  insisted  on  unconditionally.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
legitimate  free  trade  is  to  be  protected  in  its  existence  against  illegitimate  competi- 
tion, for  example,  against  an  organized  street  peddling  system. 

In  order  to  insure  the  population  against  an  excessive  increase  in  the  retail  price 
above  the  wholesale  price  it  is  necessary  to  publish  as  soon  as  available  the  daily 
level  of  prices  as  reported  in  the  wholesale  market  reports. 


The  Attitude  of  the  Big  City  Population  Toward  Its  Provisioning 
Reasons  for  Its  Passive  Attitude 

The  initiative  that  a  large  city  population  can  take  in  its  provisioning  is  restricted 
in  that  its  stores  must  be  as  conveniently  located  as  possible,  and  its  daily  require- 
ments in  fresh  foodstuffs  must  be  supplied  by  the  only  available  means ;  it  is  thus 
entirely  dependent  on  the  activity  of  the  existing  agencies  for  maintaining  the  food 
supply.  But  in  spite  of  this  serious  situation  the  city  consumers  have,  up  to  the 
present,  participated  only  passively  in  the  process  of  provisioning,  without  exercising 
a  determining  influence  on  it.  The  production  and  wholesale  distribution  have  passed 
through  upheavals  and  developments  which  have  given  the  entire  business  a  basis 
of  world-wide  extent,  and  even  the  administrations  of  large  cities  have  with  some 
success  aspired  to  do  the  same  in  the  organization  of  the  central  wholesale  market; 
yet  the  way  in  which  the  people  of  large  cities  go  about  supplying  their  needs  has 
remained  almost  unchanged,  even  though  retail  buying  in  markets  has  been  more  or 
less  replaced  by  that  in  small  retail  stores. 

While  the  producers  as  well  as  the  dealers  have  combined  in  powerful  associa- 
tions for  the  preservation  of  their  interests,  the  single  consumer  stands  all  by  him- 
self in  relation  to  the  provisioning  system  of  his  city. 

The  persistent  rise  of  the  prices  of  fresh  foodstuffs  exercises  a  retarding  influ- 
ence on  the  entire  life  of  the  large  city.  The  increase  in  the  quantity  of  the  means 
of  subsistence  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  great  increase  in  prices.  Since  wages 
and  salaries  have  not  been  increased  correspondingly,  there  has  been  an  increasing 
disproportion  between  the  things  that  are  necessaries  of  life  and  the  means  of 
getting  them.  The  deterioration  in  the  nourishment  of  the  economically  weaker  strata, 
which  is  undoubtedly  great,  is  shown  clearly  in  the  fact  that  there  is  a  decrease  in 
the  demand  for  the  dearer  and  better  grades  of  fresh  foodstuffs,  and  a  correspond- 
ing increase  in  the  sale  of  the  cheaper  and  lower  grades.    To  this  is  undoubtedly 


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due  the  high  rate  of  infant  mortality  and  unfitness  for  military  duty,  the  percentage  of 
which  is  considerably  higher  in  the  city  than  in  the  country.  The  fight  on  arbitrary  price 
fixing  can  best  and  most  effectively  be  carried  on  directly  by  the  city  consumers  who 
are  affected. 

The  explanation  of  the  lack  of  responsibility  assumed  by  the  consumer  toward  the 
provision  of  his  food  supply  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  life  of  the  workers  of  a  big 
city  creates  great  differences  among  the  people.  Within  limited  space  such  a  city 
contains  the  most  various  callings  and  kinds  of  work  and  the  economic  differences 
existing  among  the  inhabitants  are  far  more  apparent  than  any  consciousness  of  a 
common  interest,  which  would  teach  them  to  place  united  action  before  anything 
else.  They  do  not  realize  that  they  are  much  more  dependent  upon  one  another  in  the 
question  of  provisioning  than  their  differences  of  individual  economic  rank,  educa- 
tion, and  means  would  indicate.  On  the  other  hand,  the  need  of  food  forces  the 
city  consumers  to  a  rather  peculiarly  conservative  attitude.  They  are  afraid  that 
they  will  harm  themselves  if  they  dare  to  attack  the  rights  of  the  producers  and 
the  dealers  which  have  been  fixed  by  custom,  or  if  they  dare  to  take  any  steps 
against  them.  And  so  the  pressure  of  the  dependence  to  which  they  are  accustomed 
exercises  to  a  certain  extent  a  paralyzing  influence  on  the  people  of  the  big  city, 
who  in  other  respects  do  not  lack  determination. 


VIII.   TRANSPORTATION  AND  ITS  RELATION  TO  RETAIL  PRICES 


By  Frank  Andrews,  Bureau  of  Statistics,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

Raiload  freight  charges  for  some  commodities  are  very  small  compared  to  the 
retail  prices.  Bread,  meat,  and  the  raw  materials  from  which  clothing  is  made 
would,  in  many  cases,  cost  almost  as  much  if  the  railroad  and  steamship  companies 
carried  them  free.  The  average  freight  paid  on  all  the  grain  carried  on  railroads 
in  the  United  States  is  about  4  cents  a  bushel.  At  this  rate  the  wheat  necessary  to 
make  one  barrel  of  flour  is  charged  but  18  cents  for  rail  transportation.  The  average 
distance  grain  is  carried  is  from  220  to  225  miles,  and  the  average  of  4  cents  per 
bushel  applies  to  this  average  distance.  Take  a  specific  instance,  the  rate  on  wheat 
from  Kansas  City  to  Philadelphia,  a  distance  of  about  1,250  miles,  is  about  14.5  cents 
per  bushel,  or  about  65  cents  for  enough  wheat  to  make  one  barrel  of  flour.  The 
rate  on  flour  itself  amounts  to  somewhat  less  than  50  cents  per  barrel ;  so  that  wheat, 
or  flour  either,  can  be  brought  all  the  way  from  the  Missouri  River  to  Philadelphia, 
and  made  into  bread,  and  the  freight  charge  represented  by  the  bread  would  not 
exceed  one-quarter  of  one  cent  a  loaf.  This  freight  charge  is  far  above  the  usual 
rate ;  for  it  applies  to  a  distance  practically  five  times  as  long  as  the  average  for 
the  United  States. 

Let  us  take  an  example  from  the  live  stock  traffic.  The  average  distance  over 
which  live  stock  is  carried  by  rail  in  the  United  States  is  from  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  (225)  to  two  hundred  and  thirty  (230)  miles,  and  the  average  charge  for 
this  distance  is  slightly  less  than  fourteen  (14)  cents  per  one  hundred  (100)  pounds. 
Comparing  this  rate  with  the  prices  of  meat  animals  it  will  be  seen  that  railroad 
freight  is  not  a  large  item.  Prices  for  medium  grades  this  week  at  principal  live 
stock  markets  are  about  six  dollars  and  a  quarter  ($6.25)  per  hundred  (100)  pounds 
for  sheep,  seven  dollars  and  seventy-five  cents  ($7.75)  for  hogs,  and  eight  dollars 
and  a  quarter  ($8.25)  for  beef  cattle.  The  cost  of  carrying  a  beef  steer  of 
average  weight  from  Chicago  to  Philadelphia  would  be  about  three  dollars  and  a 
half  ($3.50).  The  beef  from  a  steer  of  this  size  would  sell  at  retail  in  New  York 
or  Philadelphia  for  one  hundred  ($100)  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  ($125). 
So  one  dollar's  worth  of  beef  at  retail  would  include  a  freight  charge  of  about  three 
(3)  cents.  If  dressed  beef,  instead  of  live  steers,  is  shipped,  three  (3)  cents  still 
represents  approximately  the  freight  on  one  dollar's  worth  of  beef,  at  retail. 

In  regard  to  raw  materials  for  clothing  let  us  note  the  freight  charges  on  cotton 
for  the  entire  country.  The  average  railroad  freight  on  raw  cotton  is  from  ninety  to 
ninety-five  (90  to  95)  cents  per  bale  for  an  average  distance  of  something  over  two 
hundred  (200)  miles.  The  wholesale  market  value  at  present  prices  is  more  than 
sixty-five  (65)  times  the  freight. 

So  much  for  examples  of  relatively  low  freight  charges  compared  with  prices. 
While  freight  rates  on  coal  are  much  lower  than  on  many  other  commodities,  the  coal 
rates  constitute  a  relatively  high  percentage  of  the  retail  value.  The  average  cost  of 
carrying  a  ton  of  anthracite  coal  from  one  destination  to  another  is  slightly  more  than 
one  dollar,  the  average  distance  being  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  (180)  miles. 
This  is  one-sixth  to  one-seventh  of  a  typical  retail  price. 


120 


The  products  just  mentioned  represent  a  large  part  of  the  supplies  of  the  house- 
hold. Meats,  cereals,  and  clothing  are  not  affected  seriously  in  their  retail  prices 
by  railroad  freight  rates.  Fuel,  however,  as  illustrated  by  coal,  owes  a  large  fraction 
of  its  average  retail  price  to  the  cost  of  transportation. 

The  charges  on  fruits  and  vegetables  over  some  of  the  longest  routes  may  be  illus- 
trated b}'  a  few  examples.  Celery  carried  in  carloads  by  rail  from  Sanford,  Florida,  to 
Philadelphia  is  charged  at  the  rate  of  forty-seven  (47)  cents  a  box.  This  is  for  ship- 
ments of  at  least  three  hundred  and  fifty  (350)  crates  carried  in  refrigerator  cars.  An 
additional  charge  of  eighteen  and  one-half  (18^)  cents  per  box  is  made  for  refrigera- 
tion, making  the  total  freight  and  refrigeration  on  a  box  amount  to  sixty-five  and  one- 
half  (65^)  cents,  or  possibly  from  one-eighth  to  one-quarter  to  J-^)  of  its  retail 
value.  If  the  celery  is  shipped  in  ordinary  ventilated  cars  and  without  refrigeration, 
four  hundred  and  twenty  (420)  boxes  are  required  to  make  a  carload  and  the  average 
rate  from  Sanford  to  Philadelphia  is  only  forty-one  (41)  cents  a  box,  and  the  freight 
may  equal  one-half  to  one-seventh  (1/2  to  1/7)  of  what  the  consumer  pays.  The  car- 
load rate  for  oranges  from  Jacksonville  to  Philadelphia  amounts,  for  average  size  fruit, 
to  about  three  and  one-half  (Syi)  cents  a  dozen;  Florida  cabbage  from  Jacksonville  to 
Philadelphia  is  charged  sixty-two  (62)  cents  per  hundred  (100)  pounds.  The  retail 
price  of  this  early  cabbage  would  be  possibly  five  to  ten  (5  to  10)  or  more  times 
the  freight  charge.  Early  potatoes  from  Jacksonville  to  Philadelphia  are  charged 
the  carload  rate  of  forty-seven  (47)  cents  per  one  hundred  (100)  pounds,  and  the 
retail  price  would  be  probably  ten  (10)  or  more  times  this  charge.  One  peck  of 
these  potatoes  would  share  in  the  freight  charge  to  the  amount  of  seven  (7)  cents. 

Let  us  note  some  rates  in  the  central  States.  From  Fayetteville,  Arkansas,  to 
Omaha  the  carload  rate  on  peaches  amounts  to  about  twenty-five  (25)  cents  per  bushel, 
and  the  housekeeper  who  gets  a  bushel  for  canning  purposes  at  one  dollar  and  a 
half  ($1.50)  pays  six  (6)  times  as  much  as  the  freight  cost.  Apples  from  the  Ozark 
region  in  southwestern  Missouri  to  Chicago  are  charged  from  fifty  to  sixty  (50  to  60) 
cents  per  barrel;  so  that  the  Chicago  retail  purchaser  pays  a  freight  charge  of  from 
four  to  five  (4  to  5)  cents  for  a  peck  of  apples. 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  I  do  not  intend  to  intimate  that  any  price  is  made 
by  starting  with  the  cost  of  production  and  adding  successively  each  additional  cost 
in  the  distribution  from  producer  to  consumer.  Rather,  the  price  of  a  given  com- 
modity in  a  given  market  on  a  certain  day  is  determined  largely  by  conditions  of 
demand  and  supply.  A  bushel  of  apples  on  which  a  freight  charge  of  one  dollar 
($1)  is  paid  will  sell  for  no  more  than  a  bushel  of  the  same  quality  on  which  the 
freight  charge  is  twenty-five  (25)  cents  or  even  less.  But,  unless  retail  prices  are 
usually  above  the  total  costs  of  producing  and  marketing  there  will  be  no  regular 
supply.  And  the  smaller  the  cost  of  production  and  of  marketing  the  lower  will 
be  the  retail  price  at  which  a  commodity  can  be  sold.  One  of  these  costs  of 
marketing  is  the  railroad  freight  charge. 

We  have  thus  far  considered  actual  amounts  paid  for  transportation.  Freight 
costs  have  been  compared  with  retail  prices.  There  is  another  influence  upon  the 
cost  of  living  exerted  by  transportation  service,  and  this  influence  is  highly  important 
even  though  it  cannot,  like  freight  rates,  be  measured  in  dollars  and  cents.  I  refer 
to  the  present-day  systems  of  fast  freight  service,  which  have  resulted,  with  the 
aid  of  other  agencies,  in  giving  the  average  household  a  greater  variety  of  fresh 
fruits  and  vegetables  and  for  longer  seasons  than  would  have  been  dreamed  of 
twenty  years  ago.  Fruits  and  vegetables  "out  of  season"  have  long  been  obtainable, 
but  formerly  the  prices  were  too  high  for  any  but  the  rich.  To-day  many  such 
products,  even  throughout  the  winter,  are  sold  at  prices  within  the  reach  of  a 
medium  sized  pocketbook. 

Good  illustrations  of  this  fact  are  afforded  by  noting  in  detail  the  sources  from 


121 


which  Chicago  and  New  York  obtained  some  of  their  fruits  and  vegetables  during 
a  recent  year. 

For  the  season  of  1910  the  quotations  of  Florida  tomatoes  appeared  in  the 
produce  reports  at  Chicago  early  in  the  winter  and  continued  to  about  the  middle 
of  June,  when  Texas  tomatoes  began  to  appear.  These  were  followed  by  shipments 
from  Mississippi,  and,  about  the  first  week  of  July,  by  the  produce  of  more  northern 
fields.  Among  the  States  which  contributed  tomatoes  to  the  Chicago  trade,  besides 
Florida,  Mississippi,  and  Texas,  were  California,  Tennessee,  Missouri,  and,  of  course, 
Illinois.  New  York's  supply  came  also  from  a  large  number  of  States,  among  which 
were  California,  Florida,  Texas,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  and  Delaware,  while  some  were  imported 
from  Cuba. 

The  cantaloupes  used  in  New  York  City  in  the  latter  part  of  June  and  the  first  of 
July  were  coming  from  Florida,  Georgia,  and  the  Carolinas,  and  also  from  Arizona 
and  the  Imperial  Valley  of  California.  A  few  weeks  later  melons  from  Maryland, 
Delaware,  Virginia,  and  New  Jersey  met,  on  the  same  market,  those  from  New 
Mexico,  Nevada,  and  Colorado. 

The  sources  of  supply  in  a  given  market  are  governed  to  some  degree  by  changing 
conditions  of  trade.  For  instance,  when  the  Arkansas  peach  crop  is  small  Georgia 
may  be  shipping  to  points  as  far  west  as  Denver,  while,  if  the  Arkansas  yield  is  large, 
Georgia  peaches  might  get  into  few  markets  west  of  Chicago. 

If  we  walk  along  Dock  Street  in  this  city  and  note  the  packages  of  produce  in 
front  of  the  commission  houses,  we  may  see  barrels  of  apples  bearing  the  name  of 
some  shipping  point  in  northwestern  New  York,  or  the  Shenandoah  Valley ;  and 
nearby  will  be  boxed  apples  labeled  possibly  by  some  fruit  company  of  the  Sacra- 
mento Valley,  or  a  Colorado  growers'  association,  or  bearing  the  large  red  "Y"  of  the 
Yakima  district,  in  the  Pacific  Northwest. 

Illustrations  are  plentiful  of  this  wide-reaching  system  of  transportation  through 
which  the  needs  of  a  home  are  supplied.  Crop  failure  has  less  influence  on  supply 
than  formerly;  for  failure  is  usually  confined  to,' at  most,  only  a  few  localities,  and 
the  total  supply  of  the  country  may  be  thus  reduced,  but  not  cut  off  entirely. 

The  producer  as  well  as  the  consumer  is  affected  by  this  transportation  system. 
It  has  opened  to  him  a  large  number  of  markets,  to  any  one  of  which  he  may  deliver 
promptly  a  carload  of  fresh  fruits  or  vegetables  and  sell  them  usually  at  a  fair 
price. 

An  inquiry  was  made  a  year  or  so  ago  as  to  the  number  of  cities  in  which  various 
fruits  and  vegetables  were  received  in  carload  lots  for  local  use.  The  inquiry  was 
limited  to  cities  having  a  population  of  at  least  twenty-five  thousand  (25,000).  Of 
the  one  hundred  and  three  (103)  cities  from  which  replies  were  obtained,  peaches 
were  sold  by  the  carload  in  at  least  eighty-seven  (87)  ;  watermelons,  in  eighty-six 
(86)  ;  cantaloupes,  seventy-seven  (77)  ;  bananas,  seventy-two  (72)  ;  strawberries, 
seventy-one  (71)  ;  tomatoes,  sixty-six  (66)  ;  oranges,  sixty-five  (65)  ;  grapes,  fifty- 
three  (S3)  ;  lemons,  thirty-nine  (39)  ;  pears,  thirty-two  (32)  ;  pineapples,  twenty-eight 
(28)  ;  plums,  twenty-four  (24)  ;  celery,  eighteen  (18)  ;  cherries,  thirteen  (13)  ;  cucum- 
bers, eleven  (11)  ;  green  beans,  eleven  (11)  ;  apricots,  eleven  (11)  ;  and  each  of  about 
twenty-five  (25)  other  commodities  of  this  class  had  car-lot  markets  in  from  one  to 
ten  (1  to  10)  different  cities. 

The  number  of  car-lot  markets  for  fruits  and  vegetables  has  increased  greatly 
during  the  past  decade :  there  are  at  least  forty  (40)  per  cent,  more  now  than  ten 
years  ago. 

Now  as  to  transport  service.  The  freight  carried  on  many  railroads  is  divided 
into  classes  based  upon  the  kind  of  service  rendered.  The  highest  class  of  goods 
is  given  the  quickest  and  most  regular  service.    A  second  class  of  goods,  and  even  a 


122 


third,  or  a  fourth,  may  also  be  moved  in  trains  having  regular  times  for  arrival 
and  departure,  but  which  are  slower  than  the  so-called  "manifest,"  "red  ball,"  or 
"vegetable  express"  trains. 

Fresh  fruits  and  vegetables  are  usually  included  in  the  list  of  commodities  which 
are  given  this  best  service.  Trains  carrying  these  perishable  products  are  run  at 
greater  rates  of  speed  and  with  greater  regularity  than  are  ordinary  freight  trains. 

One  feature  of  this  service  is  the  telegraphic  report  which  is  made  of  each  car  as  it 
passes  each  reporting  station  on  its  route.  These  passing  reports  are  used  by  shippers 
and  consignees  to  trace  the  movement  of  a  car  in  transit;  and  to  change  the  destina- 
tion, in  case  better  prices  are  offered  in  another  market.  For  instance,  suppose  a 
dealer  in  Chicago,  on  a  Thursday  morning,  wishes  to  know  the  location  of  a  carload 
of  tomatoes  which  were  shipped  to  him  the  morning  before  from  Crystal  Springs, 
Mississippi.  He  telephones  to  the  railroad  company's  agent  in  Chicago  and  learns 
that  his  car  will  reach  Cairo,  Illinois,  at  8.30  a.  m.,  or,  let  it  be  assumed,  about  an 
hour  after  the  time  the  dealer  makes  inquiry.  With  this  information  he  knows  that 
if  he  desires  to  divert  the  car  he  may  select  one  of  a  number  of  markets  located  north 
of  the  Ohio  River.  He  compares  telegrams  he  has  received  from  various  places  and 
decides  that,  of  the  markets  within  reach,  Indianapolis  promises  the  best  prices 
for  tomatoes  on  the  following  day,  when  his  car  is  due  in  Chicago.  So  he  orders 
the  car  to  be  diverted  to  Indianapolis.  He  may  wait  until  3  p.  m.  Thursday  before 
making  this  decision.  The  order  for  diversion  is  sent  from  Chicago  to  the  proper 
official  at  Effingham,  Illinois,  where  the  car  is  due  to  arrive  about  5.45  p.  m.,  and  where 
transfers  are  regularly  made  for  Indianapolis.  It  reaches  that  city  early  Friday 
morning,  about  the  time  it  would  have  reached  Chicago,  had  there  been  no  diversion. 

The  average  rate  of  speed  over  long  distances  for  carloads  of  perishable  freight 
depends  largely  upon  the  character  of  the  roadbed  and  the  number  of  transfers 
from  one  railroad  to  another.  From  Los  Angeles  to  Chicago  and  from  Jacksonville, 
Florida,  to  Chicago,  the  rate  averages  about  thirteen  (13)  miles  an  hour,  including 
all  stops.  From  New  Orleans  to  Chicago,  the  average  rate  of  one  of  these  "manifest" 
trains  is  sixteen  (16)  miles  per  hour — about  the  same  as  the  average  rate  of  a  so- 
called  "vegetable  express"  freight  train  running  from  Tampa,  Florida,  to  Richmond, 
Virginia. 

While  these  fast  freight  trains,  as  any  others,  may  be  late  sometimes,  nevertheless 
their  regularity  is  such  that  transactions  are  reported  to  be  made  often,  if  not  usually, 
with  the  expectation  that  the  produce  involved  will  be  delivered  at  about  a  certain 
time  on  a  certain  day. 

This  special  freight  service,  together  with  better  methods  of  marketing  and  the 
increased  use  of  refrigeration,  has  helped  to  increase  greatly  our  food  supply,  and 
has  no  doubt  reduced  greatly  the  waste  connected  with  marketing  of  perishable 
produce. 

The  consumer  is  often  interested  in  a  plan  to  buy  direct  from  the  producer.  To 
do  this  economically  the  commodities  must  usually  be  carried  in  car-lots  unless 
they  are  brought  for  short  distances. 

The  time  taken  in  transferring  a  package  from  one  car  to  another  at  various 
points  on  a  long  route  may  add  considerably  to  the  time  of  transit;  and  the  freight  rate 
on  the  less-than-carload  lot  is  regularly  higher  than  for  the  carload.  Sometimes 
this  difference  is  not  great  enough  to  affect  materially  the  retail  price,  and,  again,  the 
difference  in  rate  practically  prohibits  less-than-car-lot  shipments. 

As  a  rule,  for  many  commodities  carload  lots  can  be  handled  only  through  regular 
wholesale  merchants,  farmers'  cooperative  associations,  or  possibly  by  large  associa- 
tions of  consumers.  In  the  latter  case  the  consumers'  association  would  have  to 
employ  a  manager  with  an  office  force  and  a  delivery  system. 

It  is  the  small  consignment  from  a  nearby  point  that  the  consumer  may  usually 


123 


buy  direct  from  the  producer.  The  kind  of  article  purchased  and  the  distance 
brought  depends  largely  upon  the  relation  of  the  retail  value  to  the  freight  charge. 
Eggs,  for  instance,  will  bear  a  much  higher  transportation  charge  than  will  potatoes. 

At  present  wholesale  prices  in  Philadelphia  a  case  of  eggs  is  worth  about  twelve 
(12)  times  as  much  as  a  sack  of  potatoes.    Both  packages  are  about  the  same  size. 

Such  farm  products  as  eggs,  dressed  poultry,  butter,  and,  when  prices  are  high, 
some  fruits  and  vegetables,  are  especially  adapted  to  transportation  in  small  lots, 
and  may  be  readily  sent  direct  from  farmer  to  consumer.  If,  however,  a  mixed 
lot  of  articles  is  included  in  one  package,  the  higher  priced  articles  may  offset  those 
of  low  price  to  such  a  degree  that  the  total  value  of  the  package  will  not  be  too  low 
to  justify  the  charge  for  transportation.  This  principle  is  illustrated  in  the  "home 
hamper"  system,  inaugurated  by  the  Long  Island  R.  R.  Company  some  years  ago. 
Each  hamper  is  packed  by  the  producer  with  a  variety  of  farm  produce  and  is 
shipped  direct  to  a  city  consumer.  This  seems  to  be  an  effective  way  to  overcome 
the  difficulty  of  caring  for  wholesale  quantities  in  a  home,  where  storage  facilities 
are  limited,  to  say  the  least.  A  hamper  of  one  kind  of  vegetable  might  be  more 
than  a  family  could  use  at  one  time  or  could  keep  to  advantage;  but,  if  the  basket 
were  filled  with  a  variety  of  articles,  the  quantity  could  be  used  easily.  Under 
this  "home  hamper"  system  the  freight  charge  on  the  single  package  is  apparently 
low  enough  to  yield  a  satisfactory  return  to  the  seller  without  making  the  consumer 
pay  too  much.  One  of  the  strong  points  in  favor  of  this  system  is  the  freshness 
of  the  produce  when  it  reaches  the  consumer. 

Another  example  of  transporting  retail  packages  from  producer  to  consumer  is  the 
attempt  recently  made  by  a  farmers'  cooperative  association  near  Rochester,  New 
York.  This  association  advertised  one  season  to  sell  apples  at  two  dollars  and  a 
quarter  ($2.25)  a  bushel  box,  delivered  to  consumer.  After  a  trial  it  was  found 
that  wagon  delivery  in  the  City  of  Rochester  was  costing  the  association  at  the  rate 
of  thirty-six  (36)  cents  a  box.  Then  a  contract  was  made  with  a  department  store, 
by  which  the  store  agreed  to  sell  the  apples  at  the  old  price  of  two  dollars  and 
twenty-five  cents  ($2.25)  a  box  delivered  to  consumers;  and  to  pay  the  association 
two  dollars  ($2.00)  per  box.  Here,  by  the  way,  is  a  transportation  cost  which  enters 
largely  into  retail  prices — the  cost  of  hauling  by  wagon. 

Under  the  present  parcel  post  system  articles  having  a  price  relatively  high  com- 
pared with  their  weight  are  afforded  quick  and  relatively  cheap  transportation.  A 
package  containing  three  (3)  dozen  eggs,  if  the  gross  weight  is  four  (4)  pounds, 
can  be  sent  one  hundred  and  fifty  (150)  miles  at  an  average  cost  of  six  (6)  cents 
per  dozen.  The  increase  in  prices  during  the  past  twenty  years  has  not  been  due  to 
changes  in  freight  charges,  and  certainly  not  to  any  loss  of  efficiency  in  freight 
service.  The  tendency  has  been  in  the  opposite  direction;  the  common  carrier's  in- 
fluence has  been  generally  against  an  increase  in  the  cost  of  living.  One  of  the 
problems  of  to-day  is  to  make  this  influence  greater,  to  make  use  of  transportation 
to  reduce  the  cost  of  living;  and  one  of  the  leading  phases  of  this  problem  is  to 
develop  still  further  an  efficient  and  economical  system  for  carrying  packages  of  retail 
size  direct  from  producer  to  consumer. 


IX.    WATERWAYS  AND  COST  OF  LIVING 


By  S.  A.  Thompson,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  National  Rivers  and  Harbors  Congress 

The  high  cost  of  living  and  how  to  reduce  it  is  probably  causing  more  thought 
and  discussion  than  almost  any  other  subject  that  can  be  named.  It  is  not  at  all 
confined  to  the  United  States,  but  is  a  pressing  problem  almost  throughout  the 
civilized  world.  So  widespread  an  effect  is  not  produced  by  a  single  cause  and  the 
trouble  can  be  completely  cured  by  no  single  remedy.  The  influence  of  the  increased 
production  of  gold,  the  growth  of  cities  at  the  expense  of  rural  population,  etc., 
must  be  left  for  discussion  by  others ;  it  is  intended  here  only  to  suggest  the 
importance  of  reducing  transportation  charges  to  the  lowest  possible  point  and  the 
great  benefits  which  may  be  realized  from  the  largest  possible  utilization  of  trans- 
portation by  water. 

In  Germany  the  Imperial  Government  has  reduced  the  duty  in  certain  cases  and  the 
Bavarian  railways  have  reduced  the  freight  rate  on  meat  by  20  per  cent,  and  on 
imported  live  animals  by  30  per  cent.  The  same  consular  report  which  mentions  these 
reductions  states  that  the  Bavarian  Parliament  has  appropriated  $714,000  as  a  first 
installment  for  extending  the  navigable  channel  of  the  River  Main  from  Frankfort 
up  to  Aschaflfenberg.  In  Germany  the  railroads  are  owned  by  the  states  and  rates 
can  be  fixed  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  people. 

Little  can  be  hoped  for  from  reduction  of  railroad  rates  in  this  country.  In- 
deed, elaborate  and  voluminous  arguments  have  recently  been  submitted  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  favor  of  a  5  per  cent,  increase  in  the  rates 
on  all  commodities  between  New  York  and  Chicago,  which  would  automatically  in- 
crease the  rates  over  a  large  part  of  the  country.  But,  if  we  cannot  follow  the 
example  of  Germany  in  reducing  railway  freight  rates,  we  can,  and  should,  follow  her 
example  in  the  improvement  and  utilization  of  our  waterways  and  harbors. 

The  City  of  New  York  has  an  extraordinarily  favorable  situation  in  relation  to 
transportation  by  water.  It  is  located  upon  one  of  the  finest  harbors  in  the  world; 
it  has  connection,  through  the  Erie  Canal,  with  the  Great  Lakes — a  connection 
which  is  soon  to  be  made  vastly  more  efficient  through  the  completion  of  the  new 
Barge  Canal ;  Long  Island  Sound  is  practically  a  great  inland  waterway  giving  access 
to  a  territory  in  which  there  are  large  opportunities  for  further  development;  it 
is  a  simple  matter,  so  far  at  least  as  engineering  difficulties  are  concerned,  to  com- 
plete a  protected  inland  waterway  from  New  York  to  the  southern  extremity  of 
Florida;  and  it  is  entirely  possible,  by  the  construction  of  canals  from  the  Great 
Lakes  to  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  and  another  across  the  State  of  Florida, 
to  connect  the  harbor  of  New  York  with  all  the  navigable  waterways  of  the  United 
States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

In  so  far  as  the  projects  here  outlined  are  not  already  provided  for,  either  by 
the  State  or  the  Federal  Government,  the  people  of  New  York  should  use  all 
the  influence  at  their  command  to  hasten  the  completion  of  them  all.  It  has 
been  demonstrated  over  and  over  again  that  waterways  are  creators  of  prosperity 
and  such  a  connected  system  of  inland  waterways  as  has  been  outlined  would  not 
only  decrease  the  cost  of  living,  by  furnishing  the  cheapest  possible  transportation 


126 


for  a  large  proportion  of  all  the  articles  which  are  used  in  the  daily  life  of  the 
people,  but  also,  by  increasing  the  supply  of  raw  materials  for  manufacture  and 
enlarging  the  area  within  which  finished  products  can  be  marketed,  would  so  develop 
industry  and  commerce  that  a  greatly  increased  number  of  people  would  have  the 
funds  with  which  to  meet  the  cost  of  living,  whether  that  be  high  or  low. 

The  experts  of  the  Agricultural  Department  estimate  the  cost  of  transporting 
a  ton  of  freight  a  distance  of  one  mile  by  horse  and  wagon  on  the  average  road 
in  the  United  States  at  23  cents.  In  England,  where  the  roads  are  much  better  than 
most  of  those  in  this  country,  and  where  much  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
development  of  what  the  English  call  a  "steam  lorry,"  and  what  we  would  call  a 
steam  truck,  it  is  said  that  goods  can  be  carried  for  five  cents  per  ton  per  mile. 
The  average  rate  on  all  the  railroads  in  the  United  States  during  the  past  few  years 
has  been  about  mills  per  ton  per  mile,  but  on  a  certain  special  group  of 
roads  the  average  has  been  about  5  mills. 

On  the  Erie  Canal  in  recent  years  the  ton  mile  rate  has  been  about  2  mills, 
while  on  certain  canals  in  Europe  which  are  deeper  and  wider  and  on  which  electric 
or  other  mechanical  systems  of  haulage  are  used  the  rate  is  2  mills. 

Suppose  you  have  a  ton  of  freight  to  ship  and  a  dollar  to  spend  in  shipping  it, 
how  far  will  the  dollar  carry  the  ton  by  these  different  methods  and  these  different 
rates  of  transportation? 

By  horse  and  wagon  a  little  over  4  miles ;  by  English  steam  truck,  20  miles ;  by  rail, 
at  the  average  rate  for  United  States  railways,  ,133  miles;  at  the  rate  on  the  group 
of  selected  railways,  200  miles ;  on  the  Erie  Canal,  333  miles ;  on  the  European 
canals,  500  miles;  by  lake  at  the  average  rate  through  the  Soo  Canal  in  1911,  1,500 
miles;  while  at  the  rate  at  which  coal  is  carried  both  on  the  Great  Lakes  and  on 
the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  the  ton  of  freight  can  be  shipped  30  miles  for  a 
cent,  300  miles  for  a  dime,  and  3,000  miles  for  a  dollar. 

It  must  be  apparent  from  what  has  already  been  said  that  waterways  furnish 
the  cheapest  possible  transportation.  Let  me  clinch  that  fact  with  a  specific  illus- 
tration. Through  the  Soo  Canals  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Superior  there  were  carried 
last  year  72,479,676  tons  of  freight.  This  was  carried  an  average  distance  of  about 
830  miles  and  at  an  average  charge  of  about  two-thirds  of  one  mill  per  ton  per  mile. 
If  this  vast  amount  of  freight  had  been  sent  the  same  distance  by  rail  at  the  average 
charge  for  railway  transportation  it  would  have  cost  $411,000,000  more  than  was 
actually  paid  for  its  carriage  by  water. 

As  a  large  portion  of  this  lake  traffic  consisted  of  ore,  coal,  and  other  raw 
materials,  the  comparison  with  the  average  rail  rate  may  not  be  strictly  accurate, 
because  the  latter  may  carry  a  larger  proportion  of  high  class  commodities,  but,  if 
we  cut  the  amount  in  two,  the  saving  on  the  business  of  Lake  Superior  alone  for  a 
single  year  amounts  to  $205,500,000.  As  the  entire  expenditure  on  all  the  lakes 
amounts  to  only  about  $11,000,000,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  saving  efTected  consti- 
tutes a  very  satisfactory  dividend  upon  that  expenditure. 

The  experience  in  Frankfort,  in  Germany,  furnishes  a  striking  example  of  the 
benefits  of  water  transportation.  So  far  as  any  real  practical  use  was  concerned 
the  River  Main,  before  its  improvement,  was  hardly  entitled  to  be  called  navigable 
at  all.  As  soon  as  a  dependable  channel  became  available  traffic  began  to  grow  by 
leaps  and  bounds.  The  first  locks  were  made  to  accommodate  boats  280  feet  long, 
35  feet  wide  and  with  a  draft  of  8  feet.  The  engineers  who  planned  the  improve- 
ment thought  that  they  had  made  ample  provision  for  all  the  traffic  which  would 
be  developed  for  many  years,  but  in  less  than  three  years  after  they  were  finished 
a  demand  arose  for  their  enlargement.  Between  1891  and  1895  the  locks  were 
rebuilt  and  given  a  usable  length  of  1,150  feet,  which  is  ISO  feet  more  than  the 


127 


locks  on  the  Panama  Canal  have.  This  great  length  allows  trains  of  four  or  five 
boats  to  be  locked  through  at  one  operation  and  without  recoupling. 

The  German  Government  knows  that  a  waterway  without  proper  terminal  facili- 
ties is  just  about  as  useless  as  a  railway  would  be  under  the  same  conditions. 
So,  when  the  Government  agreed  to  build  the  channel,  Frankfort  had  to  agree 
to  build  a  harbor.  The  first  harbor  built  by  Frankfort  provided  moorings  and 
anchorage  for  50  or  60  Rhine  boats  of  the  largest  class  and  was  equipped  with 
warehouses,  sheds,  railway  tracks,  elevators,  hydraulic  cranes  and  other  modern 
appliances  for  handling  freight,  and  cost  $1,582,750.  The  traffic  on  the  river,  which  in 
1887  was  only  396,000  metric  tons  (metric  ton  equals  2,204.6  pounds),  had  risen  to 
1,431,000  tons  in  1896,  and  to  2,552,000  tons  in  1905.  One  of  the  best  indications  of  the 
growth  of  traffic  which  has  already  occurred  and  the  further  growth  which  is  antici- 
pated is  given  by  the  fact  that  the  city  of  Frankfort,  which  is  not  a  seaport  but  is 
500  miles  from  the  ocean  on  a  small  tributary  of  the  Rhine,  is  now  engaged  in 
building  a  new  and  greater  harbor  at  a  cost  of  $17,600,000 

The  full  measure  of  the  results  produced  by  the  improvement  of  the  river  is  not 
shown  unless  we  also  consider  its  effect  upon  the  traffic  of  the  railways.  There  are 
still  some  short-sighted  railway  men  in  the  United  States  who  are  afraid  that  the 
improvement  of  American  waterways  will  work  harm  to  American  railways.  Nothing 
of  the  kind  happened  at  Frankfort,  for  the  rail  traffic,  which  was  932,090  metric 
tons  in  1886,  rose  to  1,639,229  tons  in  1896,  and  to  2,770,000  tons  in  1910,  which  is 
almost  three  times  as  much  as  it  was  when  the  railways  had  a  practical  monopoly 
of  the  business  of  Frankfort. 

Nor  is  that  the  whole  story;  it  is  only  the  beginning;  for  the  traffic  has  not 
only  been  multiplied  in  quantity,  but  equalized  in  direction.  Formerly  Frankfort 
had  little  to  sell  and  almost  everything  to  buy.  Cars  and  boats  both  came  in  loaded 
and  went  back  empty.  Now  they  go  loaded  in  both  directions,  and  the  traffic,  being 
more  symmetrical,  is  more  economical  and  profitable. 

Still  further,  and  most  important  of  all,  the  traffic  was  not  only  trebled  in  quantity 
and  equalized  in  direction,  but  was  raised  in  grade.  Dr.  Leo  Sympher,  chief  engineer 
of  canals  and  waterways  of  Prussia,  states  that  since  the  canalized  river  was  opened 
there  has  never  been  a  year  when  the  railways  of  Frankfort  had  any  less  traffic 
than  they  had  before.  The  traffic  that  the  river  took  away  was  mostly  coal,  while 
the  greater  part  of  the  nearly  2,000,000  tons  of  the  traffic  increase  between  1887 
and  1910  is  composed  of  high-grade  commodities  manufactured  from  the  raw  materials 
brought  in  by  the  river,  and  of  goods  handled  at  special  rates  by  the  fast  freight 
service  which  takes  the  place  of  express  service  in  this  country.  Both  classes  of 
traffic  command  much  higher  rates  and  are  much  more  profitable  to  handle  than 
coal. 

Besides  all  else  there  is  a  tremendous  increase  in  passenger  traffic,  which  the  rail- 
roads have  derived  from  the  development  of  vast  industries  and  the  growth  of  an 
active,  concentrated,  prosperous  population  which  has  resulted  therefrom.  An 
excellent  indication  of  the  benefits  which  have  accrued  to  the  railways  is  found  in  the 
fact  that,  a  few  years  after  the  river  was  improved  and  in  consequence  of  the 
growth  it  produced,  the  Prussian  Railway  Administration  found  it  desirable  to  build 
a  combined  passenger  and  freight  station  at  a  cost  of  $10,000,000.  Even  that  was 
outgrown  and  additions  have  recently  been  made  at  an  expense  of  more  than 
$1,000,000.  Over  500  trains  daily  enter  and  leave  this  splendid  station,  which  would 
do  credit  to  an  American  city  of  twice  the  size  of  Frankfort. 

Recent  legislation  is  designed  to  secure  constructive  cooperation  rather  than 
destructive  competition  between  railways  and  waterways,  and,  since  New  York  is 
the  metropolis  of  the  nation,  the  improvement  of  waterways  in  any  part  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  prosperity  which  will  result  therefrom,  are  direct  benefits  to  the 


128 


City  of  New  York  and  to  its  people.  It  is  to  their  own  interest,  therefore,  to  throw 
all  their  influence,  as  has  already  been  urged,  in  favor  of  the  most  complete  and 
rapid  development  of  the  waterways  and  harbors  of  the  United  States  that  can  be 
brought  about.  This  is  a  great  work,  however,  and  will  necessarily  take  considerable 
time.  There  are  some  other  measures  which  will  be  of  more  direct  and  immediate 
benefit. 

The  fundamental  reason  why  the  waterways  of  Germany  have  proved  of  such 
immense  advantage  to  that  progressive  country  lies  in  the  fact  that  these  waterways 
are  provided  with  ample  and  adequately  equipped  terminals.  It  is  a  question  for 
the  proper  authorities  of  the  City  of  New  York  to  consider  whether  the  terminals 
which  are  to  be  provided  by  the  State  in  connection  with  the  Barge  Canal  will  meet 
all  the  needs  of  the  city,  or  whether  additional  terminals  should  be  provided  by  the 
city  itself.  But  as  a  measure  which  can  be  carried  out  within  a  short  time  and  at 
a  moderate  cost,  and  which  will  have  a  direct  effect  upon  the  high  cost  of  living,  so 
far  as  foodstuffs  are  concerned,  I  beg  to  suggest  the  provision  of  a  dock,  or  a  num- 
ber of  docks  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  which  shall  be  reserved,  solely  for  the 
use  of  farmers  and  gardeners  who  bring  their  own  produce  to  market  in  their  own 
boats,  whether  the  power  used  be  motors,  sails,  or  even  oars.  The  efficiency  of  such 
a  dock  would,  of  course,  be  greatly  increased  by  the  addition  of  a  market  house,  or  at 
least  a  market  space,  immediately  adjoining.  Such  a  dock  in  Jacksonville,  Florida, 
is  crowded  to  the  limit  every  day,  and  it  is  probable  that  several  such  docks  in  the 
City  of  New  York  would  also  be  fully  utilized  by  farmers  and  gardeners  from 
points  on  the  Hudson  River,  Long  Island  Sound,  and  other  waterways  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  city. 

Looking  a  little  farther  ahead,  when  the  inland  waterway  along  the  Atlantic 

Coast  is  completed,  early  vegetables  can  be  brought  by  water  from  southern  points, 
and,  if  refrigerator  ships  can  carry  meats  in  good  condition  from  Australia  to 
London,  or  to  San  Francisco,  there  is  no  reason  why  perishable  goods  may  not  be 
brought  in  refrigerator  barges  from  points  on  the  Great  Lakes  or  from  Georgia 
and  Florida. 

Costly  transportation  is  not  the  only  reason  for  the  high  cost  of  living,  Init  it 
is  certainly  one  of  the  principal  reasons.  One  of  the  most  efficient  methods  of  reduc- 
ing living  costs  is,  therefore,  the  reduction  of  transportation  costs.  Since  the  cheapest 
of  all  transportation  is  water  transportation,  it  follows  that  the  reduction  of  the 
cost  of  living  for  the  people  of  New  York  will  be  greatly  aided  by  improving  the 
waterways  of  the  country  generally  and  joining  them  into  a  connected  system;  by 
the  further  improvement  of  the  harbor  of  New  York  and  the  waterways  connected 
therewith ;  by  the  provision  of  ample  and  adequately  equipped  terminals ;  and 
by  the  setting  apart  of  a  dock,  or  docks,  for  the  use  of  farmers  and  gardeners 
who  may  bring  their  products  to  the  city  in  boats,  such  docks  to  be  supple- 
mented by  municipal  market  facilities  which  will  enable  the  producer  to  deal 
■directly  with  the  consumer  without  the  intervention  of  a  middleman. 


X.   TROLLEY  FREIGHT— A  PROMISING  AGENCY  FOR  LOCAL 
DISTRIBUTION 


By  Clyde  Lyndon  King,  Ph.D.,  Wharton  School,  University  of  Pennsylvania 

To  all  interested  in  our  local  and  interstate  transportation  systems,  it  is  becoming 
increasingly  apparent  that  trolley  freight  is  to  play  an  ever-larger  part  in  developing 
local  agricultural  communities  and  in  distributing  farm  produce  to  needy  urban 
sections. 

The  features  of  trolley  freight  that  make  its  possibilities  loom  up  so  large  are: 

1.  Frequent  stops  at  small  outlay,  thus  reducing  the  cost  of  the  farmer's  haul  to 
station. 

2.  Tapping  regions  inadequately  served  by  other  carriers,  thus  placing  many 
farmers  several  hours  nearer  the  city's  markets. 

3.  The  ability  to  ship  in  smaller  quantities  than  do  the  railroads  (which  are 
essentially  carload-lot  and  wholesale  distributors),  thus  giving  a  new  avenue  for 
marketing  the  surplus  of  small  farmers  and  focusing  attention  upon  the  nature 
of  the  output  of  all  farmers. 

4.  Farmers  can  market  their  goods  in  a  fresher  condition,  thus  giving  the  con- 
sumer better  goods  and  the  farmer  better  prices. 

5.  It  reaches  sections  of  the  city  not  reached  by  railroad  terminals,  thus  making 
possible  the  distribution  of  food  products  to  the  needier  sections  of  the  large  city 
and  exactly  to  the  market  center  in  the  small  city. 

6.  It  increases  the  facilities  for  getting  the  output  of  manufacturing  establish- 
ments to  railroad  stations,  and  from  the  city  to  outlying  suburbs  and  farmers, 
thereby  enhancing  both  urban  and  farm  values. 

7.  It  pays. 

The  significance  and  the  far  reaching  importance  of  the  development  of  this 
relatively  new  means  of  transportation  can  best  be  brought  out  by  getting  a  vision 
of  existing  facilities  for  marketing  food  stuffs  and  by  noticing  the  effect  of  these 
facilities  on  land  values  and  on  consumers'  prices. 

How  Prices  Are  Made. — In  getting  at  this  question  the  first  factor  that  must  be 
clearly  kept  in  mind  is  that  the  prevailing  prices  on  all  farm  produce  are  fixed  by 
nation-wide  and,  indeed,  by  international  forces.  So  far  as  wholesale  prices  are 
concerned,  that  is,  the  Pennsylvania  farmer  or  the  Massachusetts  farmer  is  competing 
not  only  with  the  farmers  in  each  and  every  one  of  the  other  coastal  States,  but  with 
the  farmers  of  the  newer  and  richer  regions  ip  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  the  far 
west,  and,  indeed,  with  the  farmers  in  Argentine,  in  South  Africa,  in  Europe,  in 
Asia,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  place  that  the  local  farmer,  East  or  West, 
can  take  in  shaping  national  and  international  prices  for  farm  produce  is  indeed 
very  small. 

The  forces  by  which  prices  on  farm  products  are  kept  practically  uniform 
throughout  the  United  States  and  the  commercial  world  are  practically  fourfold: 
first,  the  practice  known  as  diversion  of  shipments;  second,  the  comparatively  low 
cost  of  transcontinental  and  of  oceanic  transportation;  third,  the  use  of  cold  storage; 
and,  fourth,  the  methods  used  in  arriving  at  market  quotations  on  farm  products. 


130 


The  receipts  from  railway  freight  transportation  in  the  year  1910  alone  totaled 
$1,418,000,000.  This  grand  total  is  due,  not  to  the  fact  that  the  rate  of  transportation 
on  any  given  product  is  relatively  high  (for  a  bushel  of  wheat  may  be  sent  from 
Chicago  to  New  York  by  lake  or  by  canal  for  a  little  over  five  cents,  and  by  all-rail 
for  but  a  fraction  over  nine  cents)  but  to  the  immense  amount  of  business  handled. 
This  development  of  intra-state,  interstate,  and  transcontinental  freight  has  placed 
the  Kansas  or  Colorado  farmer  much  nearer  to  Philadelphia  than  the  farmers  around 
Harrisburg  were  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  and  much  nearer  to  New  York  than 
the  farmers  on  Long  Island  were  a  decade  ago. 

The  advantages  that  might  otherwise  accrue  to  the  local  farmer  when  there  was 
an  increased  local  demand  or  when  there  was  a  shortage  of  supply  in  the  neighbor- 
ing farms  is  overcome  by  the  facility  with  which  farm  products  from  any  section  of 
the  country  may  be  sent  even  after  transit  has  started  to  a  point  offering  a  more 
favorable  market.  This  method  is  called  diversion  of  shipment  or  selling  in  transit. 
If  a  car  of  cattle,  for  instance,  is  consigned  from  a  Kansas  shipping  point  to  Chicago, 
it  may,  by  telegram,  be  unloaded  and  placed  on  sale  at  Kansas  City  or  at  Omaha, 
should  prices  at  either  of  those  places  indicate  greater  returns  than  the  probable 
price  upon  arrival  at  Chicago.  Grain  billed  through  from  the  Nebraska  or  Minnesota 
farm  to  points  in  the  East  may,  by  telegram,  be  diverted,  on  almost  any  day,  to  any 
other  point  in  the  United  States. 

Selling  in  Transit  Methods. — The  selling  in  transit  plan  is  used  in  shipping  fruit 
by  rail  from  California  or  other  Southern  or  Southwestern  points.  Two  of  the 
diversion  points  most  frequently  used  are  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  and  a  point  known 
as  Minnesota  Transfer,  a  freight  yard  between  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis.  A  car  of 
fruit  and  vegetables  en  route  from  a  Southern  state  may  be  sent,  on  order,  to  Po- 
tomac Yard,  a  freight  transfer  point  on  the  Potomac  River,  opposite  Washington, 
D.  C,  or  to  some  other  diversion  point.  At  each  of  these  diversion  points,  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  commission  firm,  be  the  firm  a  New  York,  a  Chicago,  or  a  Pittsburg 
firm,  opens  the  cars,  inspects  the  contents,  and  reports  the  results  by  telegraph  or 
telephone  to  his  commission  firm  which,  in  the  mean  time,  is  keeping  itself  well  in- 
formed of  market  conditions  in  all  of  the  different  cities  of  the  United  States.  The 
agent  at  the  diversion  point  then  receives  orders  as  to  the  final  destination  of  the 
car.  Should  prices  be  higher  for  any  reason  in  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  New 
Orleans,  or  San  Francisco,  the  car  would  be  directed  to  that  point  in  lieu  of  going 
to  a  point  where  the  local  prices  were  not  so  high.  That  is,  in  the  days  of  the  tele- 
gram the  Eastern  farmer,  because  of  his  location  near  the  larger  cities  or  because 
of  a  local  stringency  in  supply,  would  have  little  advantage  over  the  Kansas  farmer, 
so  far  as  the  wholesale  price  is  concerned.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  any  local 
farmer  anywhere. 

A  second  factor  in  fixing  a  nation-wide  price  on  farm  produce  is  the  relatively 
small  cost  of  interstate  transportation  and  the  frequent  high  cost  of  local  transpor- 
tation. It  costs  the  United  States  $75,000,000  annually  to  haul  its  produce  for  twelve 
main  crops  from  farm  to  shipping  point  or  market.  The  average  cost  of  hauling  a 
ton  of  farm  produce  per  mile  is  from  25  cents  up.  That  is,  if  the  farmer  has  to 
haul  a  great  distance,  his  transportation  charges  will  readily  amount  to  more  than 
the  total  transportation  costs  on  products  of  the  Kansas  or  Iowa  farm  when  sold  in 
New  York.  The  average  cost  of  hauling  produce  from  farms  to  shipping  points  in 
the  United  States  as  a  whole  ranges  from  7  to  44  cents  per  one  hundred  pounds, 
with  an  average  of  11  cents.  The  mean  rate  on  grain,  flour,  and  provisions  in  cents 
per  one  hundred  points,  through  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool  by  all  rail  to  seaboard, 
and  thence  by  steamer,  is  19  cents  per  one  hundred  pounds,  and,  if  brought  by  lake 
and  canal  to  the  seaboard  and  thence  to  Liverpool  by  steamer,  the  rate  is  not  far  from 
15  cents  per  one  hundred  pounds.    That  is,  it  costs  but  4  cents  per  one  hundred 


131 


pounds  more  to  get  farm  produce  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool  than  it  does  to 
get  it  froin  the  farm  to  the  shipping  point.  In  other  words,  in  fixing  nation- 
wide market  quotations  on  farm  produce,  the  disadvantage  of  the  Western 
farmer  because  of  his  distance  from  the  market  is  slight  indeed  so  far  as  transpor- 
tation from  a  shipping  point  to  market  is  concerned.  The  only  advantage  that  the 
Eastern  farmer  can  secure  over  his  Western  competitor,  therefore,  is  in  decreasing 
his  cost  of  hauling  to  the  shipping  point  and  the  cost  from  there  to  the  market  and 
in  more  skillfully  sorting  and  otherwise  adapting  his  output  to  peculiar  local  needs. 
The  position  and  output  of  the  Western,  Southern,  or  Northern  farmer  are  also 
deeply  affected  and  he,  too,  must  readjust  his  output  and  marketing  habits. 

The  Effect  of  Cold  Storage. — The  third  factor  in  making  for  a  nation-wide 
wholesale  price  on  farm  produce  is  cold  storage.  The  butter  produced  in  June  and 
July  is  held  for  sale  during  January  and  February.  Eggs  laid  during  the  early  spring 
months  are  held  for  sale  during  the  winter  months  of  the  year  following.  This 
makes  for  stability  of  price,  not  only  for  one  locality  as  compared  with  another,  but 
for  one  season  as  compared  with  another,  and  hence  again  the  advantage  of  the 
farmer  because  of  his  location  near  a  large  city  or  other  marketing  avenue  is  counter- 
balanced by  the  greater  fertility  and  productiveness  in  other  regions,  or  by  greater 
alertness  elsewhere  in  scientific  farming  or  horticulture.  Eggs  can,  under  proper 
refrigeration,  be  brought  from  a  farm  six  days  distant  by  fast  freight  to  a  city  in 
better  condition  than  the  eggs  brought  in  on  a  warm  day  from  a  farm  six  to  ten  miles 
from  the  city. 

The  fourth  factor  making  for  fluidity  and  acceleration,  and  thus  for  nation-wide 
stability  in  market  prices  on  farm  products,  is  the  method  by  which  crop  reports  are 
issued.  It  is  upon  the  basis  of  these  reports  that  the  produce  exchanges  in  the  pri- 
mary markets  of  the  United  States  and  the  world  base  their  prices,  both  on  current 
productions  and  on  futures.  Information  as  to  crop  conditions  is  secured  by  the 
Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture — the  most  highly 
organized  crop  reporting  department  of  the  world.  The  Bureau  secures  at  least 
four  classes  of  reports  as  to  acreage,  conditions,  etc.,  of  each  crop.  These  reports 
are  by  state  agents,  by  special  traveling  agents,  by  county  and  by  township  corre- 
spondents. From  these  four  classes  of  reports,  the  crop  reporting  board  arrives  at 
state  averages  and  totals,  and  national  averages  and  totals,  as  to  crop  conditions, 
including  the  leading  facts  as  to  acreage  and  condition  of  each  crop  in  each  and 
every  locality.  At  a  stated  hour,  this  report  is  sent  world-wide  by  telegraph  and 
telephone.  The  primary  markets,  such  as  New  York,  Chicago,  and  New  Orleans,  use 
these  reports  as  a  basis  for  market  prices.  To  these  facilities  is  now  being  added 
an  international  crop  reporting  agency.  Each  of  the  great  produce  exchange  con- 
cerns has  also  its  own  crop  reporting  agents  at  work  not  only  in  this  country  but  in 
all  other  countries  as  well.  Thus  prices  of  farm  products  are  based  on  crop  condi- 
tions, not  only  in  every  section  of  the  United  States,  but  in  every  section  of  the 
world  as  well.  And,  again,  the  influence  of  local  production  on  fixing  prices  is  rela- 
tively small. 

Increase  in  Farm  Values. — By  these  four  forces  the  wholesale  price  is  fixed  with 
a  degree  of  rigidity  over  which  the  farmer  of  any  locality  has  relatively  little  control. 
It  is  these  forces  that  have  caused  such  startlingly  increased  land  values  in  the 
Southern  and  Western  states.  Thus  in  the  twenty  years  from  1890  to  1910  farm 
values  in  Iowa  increased  $2,600,000,000  as  compared  with  a  $200,000,000  increase  in 
Pennsylvania.  Southern  farms,  orchards,  and  produce  sections  are  now  obtaining 
increasing  values  because  their  output  can  reach  the  earliest,  and  therefore  highest 
priced,  markets. 

If  land  values  in  the  Eastern  states  are  to  be  restored  and  land  values  in  Western 
states  maintained,  there  must  be  a  revolution  in  local  transportation  and  in  facilities 


132 


for  marketing  local  produce  comparable  to  this  revolution  in  interstate  transportation 
facilities. 

The  leading  agency  for  making  this  change  in  local  conditions  is  the  extended  use 
of  trolley  freight,  and  that  because  of  the  peculiar  features  as  outlined  in  the  open- 
ing paragraphs  of  this  paper.  These  advantages  are:  (1)  lower  transportation  costs 
from  farm  to  shipping  point  because  of  the  many  new  shipping  points;  (2)  quicker 
and  better  distributing  facilities  from  shipping  point  to  city;  (3)  better  and  cheaper 
distribution  within  the  city. 

The  use  of  trolleys  in  getting  farm  produce  to  markets  has  been  developed  more 
generally  in  the  middle  West  and  in  the  far  West  than  it  has  as  yet  in  the  Eastern 
states,  despite  the  fact  that  the  Eastern  states  have  greater  mileage  in  interurban 
trolley  lines. 

The  use  to  which  trolley  lines  may  be  put  as  freight  carriers  may  be  classified  as: 
1.  Carrying  farm  produce  to  market,  and  miscellaneous  manufactures  and  mer- 
chandise to  the  country;  2.  Carrying  carload  lots  as  feeders  of  the  steam  railroads; 
3.  Delivering  parcels  and  lighter  packages  into  and  out  of  the  large  cities;  4.  Acting 
as  a  means  of  urban  distribution. 

The  farm  produce  carried  to  market  includes  milk,  butter,  eggs,  fruit,  poultry, 
livestock,  and  all  farm  products.  Examples  of  the  use  to  which  this  means  of  trolley 
transportation  can  be  put  are  found  in  the  practices  of  certain  Middle  Western  trolley 
companies  and  in  the  freight  and  express  service  in  Boston. 

What's  Done  in  Indianapolis. — Centering  in  Indianapolis  are  eleven  electric  ex- 
press and  trolley  lines,  bringing  in  upward  of  15,000  tons  of  freight  per  month,  the 
major  portion  being  foodstuffs.  The  city  secures  over  75  per  cent  of  its  market 
supplies  over  trolley  lines.  A  long  distance  telephone  message  at  five  in  the  morning 
brings  fruit  and  vegetables  from  a  radius  of  fifty  miles.  The  result  is  a  splendidly 
developed  agricultural  section,  and  a  better  development  in  the  manufacturing  and 
commercial  possibilities  of  Indianapolis  and  a  lower  food  cost  to  the  Indianapolis 
consumer.  South  Bend  and  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana ;  St.  Louis,  Missouri ;  cities  in 
southern  Illinois;  Chicago;  Columbus,  Dayton,  Toledo,  Cincinnati,  and  Cleveland,  in 
Ohio,  are  other  cities  already  profiting  by  such  traffic.  In  many  of  these  citits  are 
open  municipal  markets  with  the  trolley  lines  running  directly  to  them  so  that  farm- 
ers may  receive  retail  prices  for  their  goods. 

There  are  about  three  thousand  miles  of  street  railway  track  in  Massachusetts,  and 
the  greater  portion  of  this  mileage  is  within  fifty  miles  of  Boston.  A  definite  effort 
is  now  being  made  by  the  Bay  State  Street  Railway  Company  to  develop  its  incoming 
and  outgoing  freight  by  bringing  into  the  city  boot  and  shoe  findings,  as  well  as  farm 
products  of  all  kinds,  and  to  take  out  to  the  farm  department-store  packages,  hard- 
ware, meats,  paper,  vegetables,  and  fruits  from  other  lands  and  all  commodities  manu- 
factured in  the  vicinity.  This  company  now  has  in  use  seventeen  express  and  freight 
cars  with  a  capacity  of  twenty  tons  each,  heated  by  electric  heaters  to  protect  perish- 
able goods  in  cold  weather,  with  open  bulkheads  for  cooling  purposes  in  warm 
weather.  The  vestibules  are  so  arranged  that  the  windows  can  be  lowered  and  thus 
by  air  circulation  prevent  deterioration  of  goods  in  transit.  During  the  warm  months 
the  cars  stop  and  pick  up  the  produce  along  each  of  the  suburban  lines  throughout 
the  country  districts.  This  saves  the  farmer  even  the  haul  to  a  railway  station.  More 
important  still,  it  gives  him  a  mobile  and  efficient  method  of  getting  his  produce  to 
just  the  point  in  Boston  where  he  can  dispose  of  it  with  greatest  profit.  The  express 
rates  charged  are  22  1-3  per  cent,  lower  than  those  charged  by  the  old  line  express 
companies,  while  the  freight  rates  average  but  from  one  to  three  cents  per  hundred 
in  excess  of  steam  rates. 

The  Metropolitan  Division  of  the  Toronto  and  York  Radial  Railway  Company 


133 


has  special  schedules  whereby  shipments  are  made  direct  from  farm  to  municipal 
markets  in  four  of  the  towns  served  by  the  company. 

These  are  but  examples  of  what  can  be  done  in  the  way  of  getting  produce 
directly  from  the  farm  to  the  city,  and,  of  greater  importance  still,  directly  to  the 
section  of  the  city  where  needed.  This  will  mean  a  very  great  advantage  to  the 
local  farmer,  an  advantage  that  cannot  but  result,  if  fully  developed,  in  higher  land 
values  and  greater  returns  to  the  farmer,  and  ultimately  in  lower  prices  and  better 
foodstuffs  for  the  consumer. 

Feeding  the  Steam  Roads.— The.  second  class  of  freight  handled  by  trolley  lines 
is  the  hauling  of  heavy  freight  by  the  carload  as  feeders  of  the  steam  railroads  and 
as  a  means  of  getting  produce  in  carload  lots  direct  to  the  retailer. 

On  the  lines  of  the  Illinois  Traction  system  there  are  seven  coal  companies  de- 
pending wholly  upon  that  system  for  an  outlet.  These  lines  during  the  winter  months 
carry  an  average  of  1,000  cars  of  coal  monthly.  The  Grand  Rapids,  Grand  Haven,  and 
Muskegon  Railroad  is  hauling  beer  in  carload  lots,  saving  the  brewery  people  all  the 
cost  of  icing  because  the  trolley  line  can  get  the  beer  to  destination  two  hours  after 
loading.  They  handle  two  cars  a  week  in  hot  weather.  In  winter,  they  get  the  same 
company's  business  because  they  can  get  the  beer  to  destination  before  it  can  freeze. 

Manufacturing  plants  along  the  line  of  the  Bay  State  Street  Railway  Company 
are  asking  for  the  construction  of  sidings  so  as  to  do  away  with  long  and  expensive 
hauls  to  steam  road  stations. 

The  Metropolitan  Division  of  the  Toronto  and  York  Radial  Railway  has  encour- 
aged farmers  to  build  grain  elevators  and  ship  both  grain  and  hay  by  carload  lots. 
They  also  handle  the  business  of  Yawman  &  Erbe,  office  furniture  manufacturing 
company,  from  the  rough  lumber  to  the  finished  product. 

An  example  of  the  use  to  which  trolley  freight  has  been  put  in  the  delivering  of 
parcels  and  lighter  packages  into  and  out  of  the  large  cities  is  found  in  the  class  of 
service  offered  by  the  Ohio  Electric  Company.  The  merchants'  freight  service  of  this 
company  is  handled  on  passenger  cars,  equipped  with  baggage  compartments.  The 
rates  are  little  higher  than  those  for  freight  handled  on  the  regular  trolley  freight 
car.  The  commodities  offered  for  transportation  in  this  way  consist  largely  of  ice 
cream,  fruits,  bread,  and  merchandise.  The  trolley  lines  centering  in  Philadelphia 
also  do  a  business  of  this  character. 

Intra-urban  Freight. — The  fourth  use  to  which  trolley  freight  can  be  put  is  the 
handling  of  freight  within  the  city.  This  is  still  in  its  infancy,  as  the  trolley  lines 
in  many  of  our  larger  cities  have  heretofore  been  prohibited  from  doing  a  freight 
business,  as  the  companies  themselves  have  not  paid  special  attention  to  the  develop- 
ment of  such  traffic.  The  business  of  the  Bay  State  Street  Railway  Company  in- 
creased 165  per  cent,  for  the  month  of  November,  1912,  over  that  of  November,  1911, 
an  increase  to  be  explained  almost  entirely  by  the  fact  that  the  terminal  facilities 
within  the  city  were  very  greatly  developed  and  the  company  was  no  longer  obliged 
to  make  a  transfer  of  goods  from  car  to  car  or  from  car  to  automobile  truck. 

The  possibilities  for  the  increase  in  the  use  of  trolley  freight  in  Pennsylvania  are 
unlimited.  The  state  ranks  second  in  track  mileage  among  all  the  states  in  the 
Union,  having  4,343  miles,  and  stands  second  also  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  invested 
capital.  One-tenth  of  the  street  railway  mileage  in  the  United  States,  and  about  one- 
tenth  of  the  capital  stock  invested  in  street  railways,  lie  in  Pennsylvania.  Not  all  of 
this,  to  be  sure,  is  in  the  outlying  sections,  but  so  large  a  portion  of  it  is  that  its 
significance  as  a  means  of  distributing  farmers'  products  is  very  great  indeed,  espe- 
cially when  it  is  coupled  with  the  possibility  of  unlimited  freight  distribution  within 
the  city,  thus  placing  the  farmers'  products  exactly  where  they  are  needed  and  where 
the  best  prices  can  be  obtained. 

The  movement  to  extend  its  use  is  now  well  under  way.   Thus  the  Pittsburgh  and 


134 


Butler  Street  Railway  Company  inaugurated  their  freight  business  only  after  long 
consideration  and  then  primarily  to  accommodate  many  patrons  along  their  lines, 
the  directors  still  believing  that  the  business  would  be  neither  practicable  nor  profit- 
able. But  larger  facilities  and  frequent  schedules  were  soon  demanded.  Last  year 
the  business  in  and  out  of  Pittsburgh  totaled  100,000,000  pounds.  There  is  at  present 
increased  interest  in  such  business  on  the  lines  in  and  centering  in  Philadelphia.  The 
Lehigh  Valley  Transit  Company  has  long  been  especially  active  in  such  traffic. 

The  development  of  trolley  freight  as  a  means  of  retail  distribution  would,  first 
of  all,  add  to  the  receipts  of  trolley  companies.  Where  given  a  fair  trial,  under 
competent  management,  trolley  freight  has  proved  profitable. 

The  development  of  trolley  freight,  moreover,  would  place  the  farmer  many 
hours  nearer  the  city  with  the  consequent  change  in  the  character  of  his  output. 
Our  farmers  in  all  sections  are  not  adapting  their  output  to  local  markets.  They  are 
all  too  largely  producing  for  the  wholesale  market,  while  higher  returns  to  farmers 
necessitate  greater  adaptation  to  local  markets  and  an  extended  use  of  direct  market- 
ing. The  consumer,  in  his  desire  to  get  better  food  at  lower  prices,  the  manufac- 
turer, in  his  desire  to  get  an  outlet  for  his  products,  and  the  city  that  would  be 
located  in  a  wholesome  agricultural  environment,  must  all  look  toward  an  increased 
use  of  direct  marketing  and  of  selling  at  home.  Trolley  freight  makes  for  just  this 
kind  of  development 

Use  as  a  Time  Saver. — The  development  of  such  transportation  facilities  will  save 
time  to  farmers.  For  instance,  now  the  outlying  farmer  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  from 
Philadelphia  will  take  a  day  to  drive  to  the  Philadelphia  market,  a  day  to  sell  his 
products,  and  a  day  to  get  home.  Thus  half  his  week  is  gone.  With  trolley  freight 
he  could  load  his  goods  on  a  trolley  car  at  six  in  the  evening,  take  an  early  train  to 
the  city  the  next  morning,  sell  direct  to  the  consumers  en  route  or  at  the  market,  and 
be  back  home  in  the  early  afternoon,  using  but  half  a  day  instead  of  three,  and  keep- 
ing his  invested  capital  at  home  at  productive  work.  The  farm's  output  would  con- 
sequently be  increased,  and  the  farmer's  purchasing  power  would  be  enlarged. 

The  development  of  trolley  freight  in  many  sections  would  mean  that  the  gates 
in  each  and  every  farm  would  then  not  only  swing  outward  to  send  an  increasing 
volume  of  products  to  the  city  consumer,  but  they  would  also  swing  inward  to  allow 
the  entrance  of  goods  made  or  sold  in  the  nearby  city.  The  result  would  be  a  closer 
interweaving  of  the  agricultural,  economic,  and  social  interests  of  country  and  city 
to  the  end  that  confidence  would  supplant  distrust  and  cooperation,  indifference;  thus 
both  the  city's  position  as  an  urban  center  and  the  value  of  the  outlying  farms  would 
be  greatly  enhanced. 

Attention  must  be  focused  more  and  more  on  agencies  for  efficient,  economic, 
retail  distribution. 

No  one  would  contend  that  adequate  results  will  accrue  from  developing  trans- 
portation facilities  before  there  is  produce  to  transport  Neither  would  anyone  con- 
tend that  it  would  be  sane  to  raise  farm  produce  for  sale  until  there  is  at  hand  means 
for  transporting  it  to  market.  Production  and  transportation  mutually  react  to  the 
advantage  of  both.  Each  must  wait  upon  the  other.  Our  railway  history  is  replete 
with  illustrations  to  show  the  transforming  effect  that  new  and  better  transportation 
agencies  have  on  the  character  and  output  of  the  farm. 

Trolley  freight  is  one  of  the  newer  agencies  which  may  usher  in  a  new  era, 
characterized  by  adaptation  of  transportation  and  of  farm  output  to  local  markets 
and  local  conditions. 


XI.   REFRIGERATION  AT  THE  MARKET  CENTER 


BY  M.  E.  PENNINGTON 

Food  Research  Laboratory,  Bureau  of  Chemistry, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 

The  application  of  refrigeration  to  foodstuffs  is,  primarily,  for  conservation. 
The  agents  of  decay,  notably,  bacteria  and  enzymes,  are  hindered  in  their  work  of 
destruction  by  low  temperatures.  The  freezing  of  certain  commodities  so  retards 
chemical  and  bacterial  changes  that  they  are  inappreciable.  In  other  commodities 
the  changes  are  not  prevented,  but  they  progress  very  slowly.  Sometimes,  as  in  the 
case  of  fruit  and  eggs,  freezing  would  injure  the  article;  then  suitable  temperatures 
above  freezing  are  applied.  Ordinarily,  deteriorative  changes  progress  more  rapidly 
when  "chilling"  rather  than  "freezing"  is  resorted  to,  but,  even  so,  we  are  enabled  to 
preserve  many  articles  from  season  to  season  which  could  not  otherwise  be  saved 
for  the  use  of  the  people  by  holding  them  at,  or  near,  32°  F. 

In  addition  to  the  conservation  for  longer  or  shorter  periods  of  foods  prepared 
for  market  there  is  a  great  and  vitally  important  field  for  refrigeration  in  their 
preparation  and  transportation  to  market. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  population  of  this  country;  its  unparalleled  segregation 
in  large  cities ;  the  increasing  distance  between  producer  and  consumer,  all  tend  to 
render  more  and  more  important  the  question  of  the  handling,  transportation,  and 
storage  of  perishable  products.  The.  providing  of  an  adequate,  good  quality  food 
supply  in  our  large  cities  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  of  the  century.  It 
cannot  be  treated  intelligently  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  city's  distributing  systems 
alone.  The  city's  equipment  and  routine  are  the  last  links  in  a  long  chain  involving 
many  agencies,  a  great  variety  of  knowledge,  and  a  vast  mechanical  equipment. 

In  order  to  determine  the  relative  importance  of  refrigeration  at  the  market 
center  one  must  have  some  knowledge  of  the  extent  to  which  it  is  used  in  the 
handling  of  perishables  during  their  preparation  for  and  transportation  to  market. 

Consider  our  common  fruits,  for  example,  many  of  which  are  now  staples  through- 
out the  year.  Bananas  are  shipped  in  vessels  in  which  the  temperature  can  be  care- 
fully regulated.  At  the  great  banana  ports,  such  as  New  Orleans,  they  are  loaded 
into  refrigerated  cars  and  distributed  to  every  part  of  the  country.  The  citrus 
fruits  of  California  have  the  orchard  heat  removed  by  a  sojourn  of  a  day  or  two 
in  a  mechanically  refrigerated  chill-room,  then  travel  in  safety  across  the  continent 
in  refrigerated  carriers.  Or,  the  carrier,  with  more  frequent  supplies  of  ice,  chills 
the  fruit  in  transit  Under  such  conditions  the  desert  heat  is  no  longer  a  barrier 
between  West  and  East.  The  apples  of  Washington  and  Oregon,  cooled  near  their 
native  orchards,  stand  side  by  side  in  the  Eastern  chill-room  with  apples  from  New 
England  and  Virginia,  and  are  usually  in  far  better  order  than  are  the  latter.  The 
peach  growers  in  Georgia  operate  precooling  plants  during  the  six  weeks  that  their 
crop  goes  to  the  Northern  markets.  Without  refrigeration  Georgia  would  not  grow 
peaches,  and  the  New  York  peach  season  would  be  a  month  shorter  at  least.  Through- 
out the  grape  growing  districts  of  the  Great  Lakes  numerous  small  chill-rooms 
testify  to  the  advantages  of  refrigeration  in  getting  grapes  to  market.    The  luscious 


136 


cherries  of  the  far  Northwest,  packed  and  shipped  under  refrigeration,  set  the  cherry 
standard  in  the  East.  The  famous  Oregon  raspberries  are  now  enjoyed  in  Minne- 
apolis; refrigeration  and  good  handling  will  put  them  on  our  New  York  tables  at  no 
distant  day.  And  so  one  might  continue  through  the  long  list  of  fruits  and  vegetables 
to  which  we  are  so  accustomed  that  we  accept  them  without  question. 

Consider,  also,  the  more  necessary  articles  of  food — meats,  poultry,  butter,  eggs, 
cheese,  and  even  cereals.  The  chill-room  of  the  Western  packing  house  and  the 
refrigerated  car  have  served  to  bring  the  cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs  of  the  West  to  the 
East  without  the  loss  and  expense  incident  to  transportation  on  the  hoof. 

Both  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts  depend  on  the  Middle  West  corn  belt  for 
poultry  and  eggs.  Their  preparation  for  market  involves  chilling  and  they  must 
travel  the  thousand  m.iles  or  more  to  market  in  a  refrigerated  car.  The  supply  of 
Eastern  butter  would  be  sadly  inadequate  were  it  not  reinforced  by  the  butter  from 
Iowa  and  Nebraska,  made,  carried,  and  kept  under  refrigeration. 

Such  a  widespread  use  of  low  temperatures  has  not  come  about  in  a  haphazard 
fashion.  The  wider  areas  of  production;  the  more  distant  markets;  the  losses  that 
the  growers,  packers,  and  merchants  suffered  because  of  decay  in  transit,  or  the 
failure  of  their  goods  to  withstand  the  vicissitudes  of  marketing,  and  the  scarcity 
of  foodstuffs,  all  combined  to  force  the  industries  to  look  for  better  methods  of 
handling.  Agricultural  colleges,  State  Experiment  stations,  and  the  Federal  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  have  recognized  the  necessity  for  research  work  and  the  demon- 
stration of  improved  methods,  and  are  spending  time  and  money  to  the  end  that 
quality  may  be  preserved  and  waste  lessened. 

It  is  not  possible  in  this  brief  statement  to  give  the  details  of  methods  best 
adapted  to  the  preparation  of  perishables  for  marketing,  nor  the  exact  role  played  by 
refrigeration,  instructive  though  it  would  be  in  the  light  of  marketing  problems  in 
the  great  cities.  One  fundamental,  however,  is  of  universal  application  and  of 
supreme  importance  if  efficiency  in  city  distribution  is  to  be  secured,  namely,  a 
maintenance  of  the  low  temperatures  already  instituted  by  the  packer  and  the  carrier 
until  the  consumer  is  reached.  So  long  as  the  products  are  under  the  care  of  the 
packer  and  the  carrier,  intelligent  efforts  are  made  to  prevent  decay.  When  the 
products  reach  the  market  they  are  almost  invariably  removed  from  the  cooled  car 
to  a  platform  or  warehouse  which  often  maintains  high  atmospheric  temperatures. 
Eggs,  butter,  poultry,  and  vegetables  stand  for  hours  in  the  summer  sun,  or  beneath 
a  thin  wooden  roof,  and  are  then  carted  in  unprotected  trucks  through  hot  city 
streets  to  markets  which  are  not  provided  with  mechanical  refrigeration  and  wherein 
even  the  icebox  is  of  antiquated  construction.  Improved  methods  of  handling  are 
bringing  our  foodstuffs  to  our  city's  gates  in  better  condition  than  ever  before;  but 
the  ignorance,  carelessness,  and  lack  of  facilities  for  the  handling  of  perishables 
after  they  reach  the  cities  result  in  a  lowered  quality  to  the  consumer  and  the 
actual  destruction  of  an  enormous  amount  of  foodstuffs  because  they  become  unfit 
to  eat.  Good  handling  and  refrigeration  prevented  decay  while  a  thousand  miles  or 
more  were  traversed.  Bad  handling  and  the  lack  of  facilities  in  the  great  cities 
nullify  the  work  previously  done. 

Only  recently  have  the  cities  begun  to  face  the  problem  of  the  distribution  of 
foodstuffs  seriously.  It  is  a  problem  into  which  refrigeration  enters  and  without 
which  it  cannot  be  solved.  In  what  manner  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  good 
handling  of  perishables,  namely,  clean,  dry,  cold  surroundings,  are  to  be  provided  at 
the  market  center  must  be  devised  for  each  center.  The  marketing  equipment,  how- 
ever, using  that  phrase  in  the  broadest  sense,  must  begin  with  suitable  refrigerated 
terminals  into  which  the  refrigerated  carrier  can  be  run  so  that  the  contents  can  be 
removed  in  a  cool  atmosphere.  The  present  pier,  dock,  and  yard  unloading  must 
cease  if  we  are  to  preserve  quality  and  prevent  waste.    After  the  removal  of  the 


137 


goods  from  the  carrier  they  should  be  held  in  suitable  chilled  rooms  until  required  at 
their  respective  wholesale  or  retail  destinations,  and  they  should  be  conveyed  thence 
in  insulated  trucks.  Such  precautions,  although  planned  to  prevent  waste  from  too 
high  temperatures,  will  also  protect  against  the  losses  due  to  the  freezing  of  food- 
stuffs in  the  winter  time. 

The  ideal  method  of  meeting  the  above  requirements  would  be  a  wholesale  market 
with  abundant  refrigerated  space,  combined  with  a  union  railroad  and  steamship 
terminus,  provided  the  city  received  its  foodstuffs  by  both  rail  and  water.  In  the 
smaller  cities,  with  comparatively  simple  traffic  arrangements,  this  problem  is  not 
difficult;  in  the  large  cities  where  it  is  most  needed  it  is  complex.  However,  when 
one  considers  the  extremes  of  temperature  which  prevail  within  short  periods  over 
most  of  this  country,  and  the  growing  shortage  of  foodstuffs,  one  cannot  fail  to 
realize  that  radical  measures  must  be  adopted  for  the  protection  of  the  people. 
There  will  come  a  time  wherr  the  vendor  of  perishable  commodities  will  be  required 
by  law  to  provide  refrigerated  space  in  which  to  hold  them,  as  he  is  now  required  to 
maintain  his  premises  in  a  sanitary  condition. 

In  most  of  our  large  cities  the  warehouse  facilities  for  the  conservation  of  foods 
for  use  in  the  season  of  scarcity  are  far  better  than  those  for  immediate  food  dis- 
tribution. In  other  words,  cold  stored  foods  are  generally  better  handled  until  they 
reach  the  retailer  than  the  so-called  fresh.  The  sins  of  the  retailer  are  not  within 
the  province  of  this  article.  It  may  be  well,  however,  to  discuss,  briefly,  the  cold 
store,  since  upon  it  depends  very  largely  the  feeding  of  our  people  in  winter  time. 

The  past  twenty-five  years  have  witnessed  not  only  the  advent  of  the  refrigerated 
warehouse,  but  its  development  from  inadequately  insulated,  wood-lined  rooms  to 
concrete  constructed,  well  insulated  buildings  maintaining  temperatures  that  do  not 
vary  more  than  two  or  three  degrees  from  year  to  year.  Scrupulous  cleanliness  is 
maintained,  also.  The  moisture  in  the  air  is  regulated  as  well  as  the  temperature, 
and  great  care  is  exercised  to  prevent  odors.  Most  of  the  warehouses  are  provided 
with  railroad  sidings — hence  the  objectionable  warming  or  sweating  of  refrigerated 
products  when  unloaded  in  yards,  or  on  docks,  is  prevented.  If  the  commodities  are 
to  be  preserved  hard  frozen  they  are  placed  immediately  in  rooms  wherein  the 
temperatures  fall  between  — 5°  F.  and  10°  F.,  or  even  lower,  as  in  the  case  of  butter 
or  fish.  If  they  are  to  be  "chilled,"  as  in  the  case  of  eggs,  the  room  is  cooled  to 
29"  F.  to  31°  F.  Separate  rooms  are  provided  for  eggs,  apples,  vegetables,  etc.,  be- 
cause of  conflicting  flavors. 

When  the  owners  of  the  produce  remove  it,  generally  to  the  wholesale  merchants, 
it  may  or  may  not  be  well  treated,  depending  upon  whether  the  establishment  is  or 
is  not  equipped  with  refrigeration.  Almost  invariably  cold  stored  products  are  abused 
after  leaving  the  wholesaler.  The  consumer  pays  the  price  of  the  loss  by  decay,  and, 
ultimately,  the  producer  suffers  because  of  the  disrepute  in  which  the  goods  are 
held  in  the  home  of  the  consumer. 

It  is  not  possible  to  feed  our  great  cities  without  the  help  of  these  great  food 
depositories.  It  is  not  possible  to  bring  perishable  foodstuffs  to  our  cities,  nor  to 
market  them,  without  the  help  of  refrigeration.  It  behooves  us,  therefore,  when 
planning  that  most  important  item  in  the  city's  maintenance — the  food  supply — to 
make  refrigeration  continuously  available  from  the  producer  to  the  consumer. 


XII.   THE  GRADING,  PACKING,  AND  MARKETING  OF  FARM  PRODUCE 


BY  L.   J.  LIPPMANN, 

Secretary,  New  York  Branch,  National  League  of 
Commission  Merchants 

The  principle  of  cooperation  in  its  relation  to  the  producer  has  been  variously 
applied  during  the  past  half  century  in  almost  every  direction  except  the  right  one, 
with  the  result  that  few,  if  any,  of  the  movements  in  this  direction  have  prospered, 
and  a  long  list  of  failures  mark  the  last  resting  place  of  a  very  large  percentage  of 
these  experiments.  This  does  not  in  any  way  discredit  the  value  of  cooperation,  but 
should  serve  as  a  warning  against  its  misapplication.  The  old  adage  of  "Shoemaker, 
stick  to  your  last"  may  well  be  applied.  The  business  of  merchandising  to-day  has 
developed  into  an  art  and  the  proper  cultivation  of  the  soil  is  a  science,  and  rarely 
do  men  possess  either  the  qualifications  or  the  ability  to  be  successful  in  both  walks 
of  life  at  the  same  time.  Therefore,  cooperation  among  producers  is  one  phase  of 
the  subject  to  be  treated  entirely  separate  and  apart  from  any  other. 

The  question  of  what  should  be  the  objects  of  this  cooperation  may  be  divided  as 
follows : 

First:  A  proper  regulation  of  the  articles  of  production,  guarding  against  an 
overproduction  of  one  commodity  and  an  underproduction  of  another. 

Second:  Study  of  soil  and  climatic  conditions  which  will  intelligently  direct  the 
producer  and  save  him  the  disappointments  and  losses  resulting  from  an  attempt  to 
grow  celery  on  soil  best  adapted  for  potatoes,  and  vice  versa. 

Third:  Study  of  grading  and  packing.  Producers  do  not  realize  how  important 
this  particular  feature  is  and  how  much  it  means  to  them  in  the  handling  and  selling 
of  their  fruit.  A  short  resume  on  this  subject  at  this  time  would  therefore  not  be  in- 
opportune. 

First,  shippers  should  aim  to  either  locate  near  a  depot  or  shipping  point,  or 
should  arrange  for  sidings  that  will  obviate  the  necessity  of  long  hauls  over  rough 
roads,  and  where  this  cannot  be  avoided  care  should  be  exercised  in  the  handling, 
and  spring  wagons  should  be  employed  in  the  carrying  of  the  fruit  and  proper  cover- 
ings provided  to  save  exposure  to  weather  conditions  and  to  avoid  the  dust  of  country 
roads  in  transportation.  Long  hauls  over  rough  roads  on  poor  wagons  inflict  serious 
injury  on  fruit  which  may  not  be  manifest  at  the  time  of  shipment,  but  which,  after 
the  fruit  has  been  twenty-four  or  forty-eight  hours  in  transit  and  in  many  instances 
a  longer  period  of  time,  result  largely  in  its  arrival  in  poor  condition  and  many 
times  in  worthless  condition.  Careless  handling  and  loading  in  either  freight  cars  or 
express  cars,  often  in  a  great  hurry,  add  to  this  damage  and  result  in  serious 
monetary  losses  to  the  producers. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  losses  sustained  through  improper  handling,  I  refer  to  a 
statement  made  by  Dr.  Pennington,  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  that 
the  production  of  eggs  in  the  United  States  aggregates  a  total  of  five  hundred  million 
of  dollars  in  value,  of  which  10  per  cent.,  or  fifty  million,  is  lost  annually  through 
bad  handling.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  million  of  poultry  is  produced  annually  and 
10  per  cent.,  or  twenty-five  million,  is  lost.    Add  to  this  the  same  percentage  of 


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losses  sustained  in  other  food  commodities  of  a  perishable  nature  and  it  will  be 
readily  seen  that  a  small  retail  saving  to  the  consumer  is  secondary  to  the  tremendous 
original  waste  and  that  the  problem  is  being  attacked  from  the  wrong  end,  when 
people  agitate  for  retail  markets.  This  subject,  however,  will  be  gone  into  more 
fully  later.    At  present  I  wish  to  deal  with  the  producer. 

If  you  can  take  time  to  grow  your  crop,  Mr.  Producer,  you  must  take  time  to 
grade  and  pack  it  properly  for  market,  and  to  see  that  every  care  is  exercised  to 
prevent  injury,  and  to  place  it  on  the  market  in  the  very  best  of  condition.  You 
stand  in  the  same  position  that  the  manufacturer  does  who  studies  to  produce  the 
very  best  product  that  he  can  in  order  to  meet  competition;  who,  by  a  high  state  of 
efficiency,  eliminates  waste  and  therefore  reduces  cost,  and  who  standardizes  his 
product,  creating  for  it  a  permanent  market  and  making  it  a  valuable  asset.  The  pro- 
ducer is  in  a  position  to  accomplish  the  same  results  with  his  farm  products  that  the 
manufacturer  accomplishes  with  his  products. 

There  are  two  ways  to  be  successful  in  business.  One  is  to  produce  an  article 
at  a  lower  price  than  your  competitor,  and  the  other  is  to  produce  an  article  so  good 
that  you  do  not  have  to  enter  into  competition  with  your  neighbor,  and  it  is  within 
the  power  of  every  producer  to  accomplish  the  latter  result  and  he  should  aim  in  this 
direction. 

The  average  shipper  has  no  idea  just  how  his  fruits  and  other  products  are 
handled  in  the  New  York  market,  the  rapidity  with  which  this  work  must  be  done, 
the  hours  in  which  the  same  is  handled,  and  the  elimination  process  that  goes  on 
through  the  marketing  hours  with  a  selection  and  selling  first  of  the  very  best  prod- 
ucts, then  the  next  grade,  until  finally  the  last  and  poorest  grade  is  reached,  and  this 
is  usually  sold  at  the  last  and  poorest  price.  With  the  opening  of  the  fruit  markets 
during  the  summer  months  in  New  York  at  1  a.  m.,  and  the  vegetable  markets  at 
3  A.  M.,  with  a  frequent  handling  on  one  pier  alone  of  some  two  hundred  and  fifty 
to  three  hundred  carloads  between  the  hours  of  1  a.  m.  and  7  a.  m.,  you  might  form 
a  slight  conception  of  the  work  that  is  being  accomplished  in  this  market,  and  these 
receipts  are  growing  annually.  Each  year  finds  new  territory  entering  the  field  of 
production  with  keener  competition  on  the  part  of  producers  in  the  various  markets 
of  the  country,  and  in  this  age  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  only  the  intelligent  pro- 
ducer who  exercises  the  greatest  care  and  intelligence  in  the  handling,  grading,  and 
packing  of  his  products  can  hope  to  survive  and  be  successful. 
The  following  is  a  brief  set  of  rules  for  grading  and  packing: 
Strawberries:  These  should  be  packed  in  standard  quarts  only  and  in  ventilated 
containers  of  32  quarts,  48  quarts,  or  60  quarts.  Baskets  should  be  properly  filled 
and  rounded  off  and  a  few  green  leaves  on  the  berries  often  afford  some  protection 
when  the  covers  are  closed  down  on  the  containers  and  lend  a  fresher  appearance  to 
the  same  on  arrival  in  market.  If  possible,  these  should  be  loaded  at  all  times  in 
refrigerator  cars,  and  cars  should  be  iced  and  thoroughly  cooled  at  least  ten  hours 
before  loading  in  order  that  a  proper  temperature  may  be  maintained  in  the  car 
after  same  is  loaded.  It  must  be  recognized  that  the  natural  heat  in  a  berry  when 
loaded  in  a  refrigerator  car  usually  runs  the  temperature  up  to  a  point  where  the 
process  of  refrigeration  is  not  taking  place,  and  for  this  reason  the  car  should  be 
thoroughly  cooled  before  loading  in  order  that  a  proper  temperature  may  be  main- 
tained after  the  same  is  loaded.  Care  should  also  be  exercised  to  see  that  crates, 
when  loading,  are  properly  braced  to  prevent  the  shifting  of  the  load  when  car  leaves 
the  station. 

Blackberries  and  Raspberries  should  be  handled  the  same  as  strawberries,  except 
that  raspberries  carry  very  much  better  in  the  pint  container  than  in  the  quart  and 
should  be  loaded  in  containers  of  60  pints  to  the  container. 

Cherries  may  be  packed  and  loaded  in  either  quart  boxes,  the  same  as  straw- 


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berries,  or  in  8-pound  baskets,  the  latter  being  preferable.  Baskets  should  be  well 
filled  with  the  top  layer  evened  down  in  order  that  the  cover  may  not  press  or 
bruise  them.  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  cherries  which  are  picked  in  cloudy 
or  damp  weather  decay  very  rapidly,  or  cherries  which  are  permitted  to  become  too 
ripe  before  packing,  all  of  which  should  be  avoided. 

Gooseberries  and  Currants  should  be  packed  in  quarts  and  in  32-quart  containers, 
the  same  as  berries,  but  in  the  case  of  gooseberries  they  are  not  quite  so  tender  and 
therefore  need  not  necessarily  be  shipped  under  refrigeration. 

Huckleberries  should  be  packed  in  quarts,  the  same  as  strawberries,  but  a  tight 
quart  should  be  employed.  Very  frequently  shippers  make  the  fatal  mistake  of  using 
a  strawberry  quart  with  ventilated  corners  for  huckleberries,  with  the  result  that 
the  space  in  these  quarts  is  large  enough  to  permit  huckleberries  to  run  through  the 
quarts,  arriving  in  market  with  half  of  the  contents  lost  in  transit.  Sometimes,  also, 
shippers  seek  to  avoid  this  by  filling  these  corners  of  the  quarts  with  paper,  but  this 
paper  shifts  and  it  fails  to  serve  the  purpose,  and  for  this  reason  only  a  tight  quart 
should  be  used.  Care  should  also  be  exercised  in  shipping  the  berries  in  a  clean 
state.  Carelessness  in  packing,  mixing  partially  ripe  or  green  berries,  and  in  many 
instances  sticks  and  leaves  in  the  quarts,  should  be  avoided,  as  these  things  naturally 
destroy  their  appearance  and  their  saleability.  This  fruit  should  be  shipped  in  a 
clean  state  in  order  to  insure  the  best  results. 

Plums  of  all  kinds  may  best  be  shipped  in  the  8-pound  handle  basket  and  solidly 
packed  to  avoid  bruising  in  transit,  and  care  should  also  be  exercised  not  to  gather 
same  in  an  over-ripe  condition. 

Quinces,  Apples,  and  Pears  are  best  handled  in  standard  barrels  and  the  practice 
of  packing  largely  resorted  to  by  the  producers  in  improperly  grading  same  has  been 
a  decided  disadvantage  to  them  and  a  loss.  These  three  articles  should  be  graded, 
first  as  to  size,  second  as  to  variety,  third  as  to  their  condition,  i.  e.,  being  free  from 
scars,  scabs,  worm  holes,  etc.,  and  packed  into  three  grades,  fancy,  choice,  and  sec- 
onds, with  fancy  consisting  of  the  large  fruit  that  is  absolutely  clean  and  free  from 
fungus  or  other  imperfections;  secondly,  the  large  fruit  which  is  more  or  less  im- 
perfect and  which  would  grade  as  "choice,"  and  thirdly,  the  "seconds,"  which  is  the 
undersized  fruit. 

Peaches:  There  are  several  methods  employed  in  the  packing  and  grading  of 
peaches.  Georgia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  Missouri,  and  Arkansas  use  all  to- 
gether what  is  known  as  the  6-basket  carrier,  rejecting  all  imperfect  fruit  and  grad- 
ing only  their  perfect  fruit  according  to  size  into  several  crates,  such  as  extra  fancy, 
fancy,  and  choice.  The  "extra  fancy"  being  the  large  or  two-tier  pack  of  fruit,  the 
"fancy"  being  the  medium  or  two  and  one-half-tier  pack  of  fruit,  and  the  "choice" 
being  the  smaller  or  three- tier  pack  of  fruit.  Other  sections  employ  the  use  of  the 
carrier  on  their  extra  fancy  fruit — that  is,  the  two  and  a  half  and  two-tier  fruit — 
and  use  the  bushel  basket  for  the  lower  grades,  and  this  has  been  found  to  prove 
the  very  best  method  to  employ.  I  cannot  dwell  too  strongly  upon  the  necessity  of 
exercising  every  care  in  picking  this  fruit  from  the  tree,  using  canvas-lined  baskets 
to  prevent  bruising.  No  matter  how  slight  the  bruise  may  be — it  may  not  be  mani- 
fest in  packing  time — but  this  will  develop  into  rot  and  decay  after  same  is  in  transit 
to  the  market  and  means  a  loss  to  the  shipper.  The  same  caution  should  also  be 
exercised  with  reference  to  properly  cooling  the  cars  before  the  fruit  is  loaded,  and 
where  systems  of  precooling  have  been  adopted  and  the  fruit  is  properly  precooled 
even  before  packing,  thereby  roughening  the  fiber  and  skin  of  the  fruit  before  the 
same  is  rehandled,  it  has  been  found  that  the  fruit  will  carry  better  and  arrive  in 
better  condition. 

Watermelons:  These  should  be  graded  according  to  size  and  cars  should  be 
loaded  under  the  following  averages  of  weight:    18  to  20  pounds,  20  to  22  pounds, 


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22  to  25  pounds,  25  to  28  pounds,  28  to  30  pounds,  and  upward.  It  is  a  great  mistake 
to  attempt  to  load  watermelons  of  a  20-pound  weight  and  a  40-pound  weight  all  in 
the  one  car,  assuming,  in  doing  so,  that  you  have  a  30-pound  average  car  of  water- 
melons. The  trade  that  is  seeking  a  30-pound  average  car  of  watermelons  cannot 
use  a  20-pound  watermelon,  and  the  result  is  that  a  car  loaded  in  this  way  serves 
no  purpose  and  pleases  no  customer,  and  usually  sells  at  the  average  value  of  the 
smallest  watermelon  in  the  car.  Another  precaution  which  should  be  observed  is  to 
see  that  all  cars  used  for  the  loading  of  watermelons  are  thoroughly  cleaned  out  and 
swept  before  watermelons  are  loaded  in  them.  Very  often  shippers  are  careless  and 
use  a  car  in  which  guano  had  been  loaded  without  cleaning  out  the  car,  with  the  re- 
sult that  the  watermelons  become  infected  with  this  guano  and  the  same  eats  into  the 
rind,  bringing  the  car  into  the  market  with  a  large  quantity  of  decayed  watermelons. 
Care  should  also  be  exercised  against  the  shipping  of  watermelons  that  are  not  fully 
ripe,  a  thing  which  is  frequently  done  and  which  not  only  works  a  temporary  injury 
but  a  lasting  one,  for  the  reason  that  an  immature  fruit  bought  by  a  consumer  and 
thrown  away  discourages  the  use  of  same  by  this  consumer  for  the  balance  of  the 
season.  Care  should  also  be  exercised  in  using  thoroughly  ventilated  cars  for  the 
shipment  of  watermelons,  and  same  should  be  properly  braced  to  avoid  shifting  in 
transit  and  the  necessary  breakage  that  will  result  therefrom. 

Cantaloupes:  The  best  package  that  can  be  employed  for  the  use  of  cantaloupes 
is  the  standard  slatted  crate.  This  is  a  crate  of  the  dimensions  12  x  12  in  the  heads, 
and  24  inches  in  length,  the  heads  being  made  of  solid  veneer  and  the  sides  being 
covered  with  2j4-inch  slats  with  air  space  of  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  between 
the  slats. 

Cantaloupes  should  also  be  selected  as  to  size  and  usually  packed  36,  45,  or  54  to 
the  standard  crate,  according  to  their  size,  same  being  uniform.  Care  should  also 
be  exercised  not  to  pack  a  cantaloupe  before  the  same  is  properly  matured  and 
becomes  free  from  the  vine,  and  the  same  should  be  well  netted.  Over-ripe  can- 
taloupes should  not  be  packed  at  all,  or,  if  intended  for  nearby  markets,  should  be 
separated  from  the  other  cantaloupes  and  packed  in  crates  as  "Ripe"  by  themselves, 
but  never  mixed  with  the  firm  stock. 

Oranges:  These  are  usually  separated  into  four  grades,  namely:  fancy  brights, 
brights,  russets,  and  golden  russets.  These  are  usually  graded  in  a  grading  machine 
which  separates  them  as  to  size,  and  then  packed  accordingly,  either  96,  112,  126,  150, 
176,  200,  216,  250,  or  288  to  the  box.  Each  fruit  should  be  wrapped  in  tissue  paper, 
and  I  cannot  dwell  too  strongly  upon  the  necessity  of  a  careful  selection  of  this  fruit 
and  the  exercising  of  every  care  against  the  bruising  of  same  when  being  picked 
from  the  trees,  all  of  which  will  be  manifest  in  their  condition  on  arrival  in  market. 
The  use  of  a  neat  box,  even  though  the  same  may  cost  a  few  cents  more  than  a 
cheap  or  poorly  made  orange  box,  the  use  of  branded  tissue  paper  for  the  packing 
of  oranges,  and  anything  else  that  might  be  done  to  improve  their  appearance  helps 
in  their  sale,  and  very  frequently  pays  for  the  extra  care  and  expense  involved  in 
packing  them  properly. 

Grapefruit:  These  should  be  handled  precisely  the  same  as  oranges,  except  that 
they  should  be  properly  brushed  and  cleaned  before  being  packed,  and  for  this 
purpose,  at  the  present  time,  cleaning  machines  are  obtainable.  There  should  also 
be  graded  and  packed  according  to  the  following  sizes :  28,  36,  42,  54,  64,  80,  and 
96  to  the  box,  and  all  of  the  precautions  in  packing  and  appearance  referred  to  in 
the  case  of  oranges  should  be  observed  with  grapefruit. 

Tangerines  and  Mandarines  should  be  handled  in  precisely  the  same  way  as 
oranges  and  grapefruit,  but  packed  in  half  boxes,  of  which  two  are  strapped  to- 
gether. 

Pineapples:    A  great  mistake  on  the  part  of  shippers  is  made  in  the  shipment  of 


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pineapples  too  green  for  market.  These  arriving  in  the  Northern  markets  during 
the  winter  months  or  early  spring,  when  weather  is  cold  in  an  immature  state,  never 
ripen  unless  by  artificial  means  in  ripening  rooms,  but  will  command  full  value  when 
arriving  here  in  a  good  colored  condition.  On  the  other  hand,  pineapples  shipped 
during  the  summer  months,  when  weather  conditions  are  warm  and  pineapples  ripen 
naturally  very  quickly,  should  be  shipped  in  a  greener  state. 

A  mistake  is  also  made  in  grading  these  and  packing  them  undersize,  causing 
them  to  arrive  in  market  in  a  slack  condition  in  the  crates  and  causing  chafing  in 
transit,  which  results  in  deterioration.  Pineapples  should  be  graded  fully  up  to  size, 
each  individual  pineapple  wrapped  in  a  heavy  paper  for  protection  and  packed  in 
crates,  grading  as  follows :  12,  18,  24,  30,  36,  and  42  of  the  Red  Spanish  pineapples, 
while  the  Abakkas  and  Sugar  Loafs  should  be  packed  in  crates  containing  6,  8,  10, 
and  12  to  the  crate.  These  large  varieties  of  pineapples,  being  more  or  less  tender, 
should  be  protected  by  being  packed  in  a  light  excelsior  in  order  to  prevent  bruising. 

Cabbage:  The  cabbage  shipped  from  Southern  points  in  the  early  spring  is 
usually  crated  in  barrel  crates,  and  should  be  solidly  packed,  and  all  soft  and  spongy 
heads  eliminated.  During  the  fall  and  winter  months,  cabbage  may  be  shipped  either 
in  cattle  cars  or  later,  in  cold  weather,  in  refrigerator  cars,  packed  loose  in  the  cars, 
but  during  the  warm  or  summer  months  should  be  crated  and  usually  shipped  in  re- 
frigerator cars  to  prevent  deterioration.  Care  should  also  be  exercised  in  not  mixing 
the  varieties.  As  an  illustration,  Wakefield  and  Flat  Dutch  should  not  be  mixed,  nor 
should  Domestic  and  Danish  Seed  cabbage  be  mixed,  nor  should  Red  and  White 
cabbage  be  mixed,  each  selling  best  if  graded  by  itself. 

Cucumbers:  These  should  be  separated  into  three  grades.  Fancy  cucumbers 
should  consist  of  only  the  smooth,  long,  straight,  green  cucumber,  and  not  the  over- 
large  or  thick,  spongy  cuke  which  might  best  not  be  shipped  at  all.  The  second 
grade  should  consist  of  the  choice  cucumber  or  those  not  sufficiently  perfect  to  grade 
as  fancy,  and  the  third  or  call  cucumber  should  consist  of  the  undersized  or  mis- 
shapen, and  these  are  usually  taken  by  the  pickle  houses,  if  separated  in  this  way, 
at  fair  prices. 

The  bushel  hamper  has  been  found  the  most  advantageous  package  for  these 
cucumbers,  and  I  would  strongly  advise  never  shipping  under  refrigeration,  as  they 
carry  better  under  ventilation  and  do  not  deteriorate  quite  as  quickly  as  when 
shipped  under  refrigeration,  with  the  radical  change  of  temperature  made  when  they 
are  unloaded  from  a  refrigerator  car  and  exposed  to  the  warm  atmosphere,  causing 
them  immediately  to  soften  and  turn  yellow.  I  would  also  strongly  advise  never 
shipping  a  yellow  or  wilted  cucumber. 

Green  Peas  and  String  Beans  should  never  be  packed  following  a  rain  and  when 
filled  with  moisture,  as  they  ferment,  heat,  and  deteriorate  in  transit,  but  should  be 
packed  cold  and  packed  in  bushel  hampers,  and  care  should  be  exercised  to  see  that 
the  hampers  are  well  filled  and  packed  down ;  otherwise,  with  the  natural  evaporation 
that  takes  place  in  transit,  they  arrive  in  market  in  a  slack  state  which  militates 
against  their  sale  and  causes  low  prices. 

Care  should  also  be  exercised  in  not  packing  either  beans  or  peas  until  they  are 
properly  matured,  and  equal  care  not  to  permit  them  to  become  overgrown  or  over- 
matured,  either  of  which  faults  will  result  in  low  prices. 

Tomatoes:  With  the  exception  of  nearby  points  where  the  bushel  crate  is  used, 
the  most  desirable  container  for  tomatoes  is  the  6-basket  carrier.  Tomatoes  should 
also  be  separated  as  to  size  and  packed  in  these  containers:  72,  96,  108,  120,  144,  or 
188  to  the  crate.  Care  should  be  exercised  not  to  pack  a  tomato  too  green  or  im- 
mature, or  one  which  will  never  ripen,  or  an  over-ripe  tomato,  and  care  should  also 
be  exercised  never  to  pack  a  ripe  and  a  green  tomato  in  the  same  carrier,  but  rather 
separate  them,  marking  the  crates  as  to  their  condition  and  maturity.    Misshapen  or 


144 


split  tomatoes  or  those  containing  other  imperfections  should  be  rejected  and  never 
shipped,  as  they  only  injure  the  sale  of  the  good  tomato.  During  the  warm  season 
it  is  advisable  to  ship  these  under  refrigeration,  as  they  carry  better  in  this  way. 

Egg  Plants  should  be  packed  in  half  barrel  crates;  each  egg  plant  should  be 
separately  wrapped  in  paper  to  prevent  bruising  and  chafing,  and  these  should  also 
be  separated  as  to  size,  and  number  of  egg  plants  contained  in  each  crate  marked 
on  the  crate. 

Potatoes:  During  the  early  spring  months  potatoes  are  usually  shipped  in  double- 
headed  barrels  or  burlap  bags,  the  purpose  of  using  these  barrels  being  to  prevent 
bruising  due  to  the  tenderness  of  the  skin  on  the  potato.  These  should  also  be 
graded  into  three  sizes :  fancy,  bright,  and  seconds,  according  to  their  size.  Later 
in  the  season,  when  stock  is  thoroughly  matured  and  the  skin  is  firmly  set  on  the 
potato,  the  same  may  be  shipped  in  sacks  containing  11  pecks,  or  165  pounds  net,  to 
the  bag,  but  this  should  never  be  done  during  the  early  part  of  the  season  and  when 
the  skin  is  not  thoroughly  set  on  the  potato. 

Celery:  This  should  be  properly  bleached  before  shipment,  and  carries  best  in 
the  12-inch  Florida  celery  crate  with  a  separation  made  as  to  the  sizes  of  the  stalks, 
being  packed  accordingly,  either  6,  8,  10,  or  12  dozen  to  the  crate,  and  in  some  in- 
stances larger. 

Lettuce:  Too  frequently  the  mistake  is  made  on  the  part  of  shippers  in  forcing 
lettuce  into  market  before  it  is  thoroughly  matured  and  well  headed,  and  very  often 
well-headed  lettuce  in  a  green  state  or  before  the  same  has  begun  to  turn  white  at 
the  heart  is  forced  into  market  and  is  sold  at  low  prices. 

Care  should  be  exercised  to  see  that  lettuce  is  well  headed  and  the  same  is  thor- 
oughly dry  before  packing,  and  lettuce  should  never  be  packed  except  with  the  faces 
of  the  heads  toward  each  other.  Frequently  the  mistake  is  made  of  packing  the 
butt  end  of  one  head  of  lettuce  on  the  face  of  the  lower  head,  with  a  result  that  this 
butt  bruises  the  face  of  the  lower  head  of  lettuce  and  causes  decay  and  deterioration. 
The  half  barrel  hamper  has  been  found  to  be  the  best  package  for  the  carrying  of 
lettuce  and  the  same  should  be  solidly  packed,  and  wherever  possible,  unless  to  nearby 
markets,  shipped  under  refrigeration  in  order  to  insure  its  carrying  in  good  con- 
dition. 

Poultry:  There  are  two  methods  of  dressing  employed  in  preparing  poultry  for 
market,  one  being  the  dry  picking  method  and  the  other  scalding.  Certain  sections 
of  the  country  prefer  one  or  the  other  of  these  methods,  but  the  New  York  market 
for  home  consumption  prefers  dry  picked  poultry.  Care  should  be  exercised  in  pre- 
paring poultry  for  market  to  see  that  same  is  thoroughly  freed  from  congealed  blood 
in  the  mouth  after  killing  and  dressing,  and  that  same  is  thoroughly  cooled  and 
freed  from  animal  heat  before  packing,  as  this  is  dangerous  and  frequently  results 
in  the  poultry  arriving  at  destination  "Struck  green"  and  unfit  for  human  con- 
sumption. 

Poultry  should  be  graded — chickens,  fowls,  cocks  being  packed  separately,  turkeys 
being  similarly  separated.  Young  Toms,  Old  Toms,  Young  Hens,  Old  Hens  being 
packed  separately  and  also  graded  as  to  quality,  fancy  or  culls ;  the  imperfect  shaped, 
crooked  breasted,  or  thin,  starved  birds,  or  discolored  ones  being  packed  under  a 
cull  grade. 

Clean  packages  should  be  used  and  a  separation  of  each  layer  in  paraffine  paper 
improves  the  appearance,  or,  if  intended  for  cold  storage,  each  bird  should  be 
wrapped  in  paraffine  paper.  All  packages  should  be  plainly  marked  as  to  contents, 
giving  the  number  and  kind  of  poultry  it  contains,  also  the  gross  weight,  tare,  and 
net  weight. 

The  use  of  paper  in  packing  referred  to  is  for  dry  packing  and  not  ice  packing, 
when  same  should  not  be  used,  as  it  would  prevent  the  cold  water  from  circulating 


145 


freely  through  the  package  and  keeping  the  contents  cold,  a  thing  which  is  necessary 
to  prevent  deterioration.  Ice  packing  should  only  be  resorted  to  when  proper  re- 
frigerator car  shipments  cannot  be  made,  but  the  desirable  method  of  shipment  is 
dry  packing  under  proper  effective  refrigeration  and,  wherever  possible,  precooling 
before  loading  in  cars. 

Fourth:    Proper  distribution. 

The  tendency  to  overload  one  market  and  to  undersupply  another,  making  an 
improper  distribution,  is  one  of  the  pitfalls  of  the  shipper  which  causes  endless  dis- 
appointments and  monetary  losses,  which  could  be  well  avoided  by  proper  regula- 
tion. 

Thus :  A  telegram  arrives  at  shipping  point  announcing  that  Boston  or  Chicago 
market  is  $3.00  per  crate  for  tomatoes.  New  York  market  $2.00.  Result — every 
shipper  immediately  overloads  the  high  market  and  dodges  the  low  market.  Ultimate 
result — these  shipments  break  the  high  market  to  $1.50  or  lower  per  crate,  while  the 
low  market,  which  is  undersupplied,  jumps  to  $3.00  per  crate,  and  then  history  re- 
peats itself  again  and  again. 

This  haphazard  method  of  distribution  should  be  replaced  by  proper  cooperation, 
and  all  markets  should  be  uniformly  supplied  in  accordance  with  their  requirements. 
If  this  is  done  the  extremely  high  as  well  as  the  extremely  low  prices  will  be  averted, 
and  a  fair  uniform  price  maintained  which  will  prove  very  much  more  profitable  to 
all  shippers  than  the  present  unbusinesslike  method  that  is  pursued. 

The  solution  of  this  problem  can  best  be  brought  about  through  a  well  organized 
branch  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  this  branch  should  be  in  the  hands  of 
a  practical  man  experienced  in  the  art  of  distribution,  with  a  staff  at  the  various 
points  of  production  and  distribution.  In  this  way  they  can  keep  fully  informed  of 
actual  conditions  and  so  regulate  distribution  as  to  prevent  gluts,  thus  serving  both 
the  producer  and  consumer. 

Fifth:  Supplies.  Under  proper  cooperation,  supplies  of  farm  utensils,  seed, 
fertilizers,  and  packages  can  be  obtained,  and  even  community  packing  houses  might 
be  maintained,  not  only  effecting  a  great  saving  to  the  producer  but  also  standardizing 
all  shipments  and  opening  up  a  broader  market  for  the  same. 

As  an  illustration,  the  production  of  cauliflower  on  Long  Island  is  quite  an  ex- 
tensive industry,  the  large  percentage  of  the  output,  however,  finding  its  way  only 
to  the  New  York  market.  Due  to  the  short-sighted  policy  on  the  part  of  the  pro- 
ducer in  the  use  of  antiquated,  worn-out,  second-hand,  slat  barrels  for  the  packing 
of  this  cauliflower,  which  bruise  it  in  transit,  and  in  many  instances  bring  it  to  market 
in  a  semi-decayed  condition,  its  sale  is  often  at  low  prices,  which  is  a  direct-  dis- 
advantage to  the  producer  and  of  no  material  advantage  to  the  consumer. 

The  establishment  of  community  packing  houses  in  the  Long  Island  producing 
districts,  with  the  adoption  of  a  proper  crate  for  the  packing  of  this  cauliflower,  would 
not  only  bring  it  into  market  in  New  York  in  good  condition  but  would  also  enable 
its  reshipment  to  a  number  of  the  distant  markets  at  profitable  prices,  preventing 
gluts,  encouraging  production,  and  enabling  the  Long  Island  farmer  to  produce  three 
times  as  much  cauliflower  as  is  produced  now,  and  to  do  so  at  a  profit  rather  than 
at  a  loss. 

I  am  merely  using  this  as  an  illustration  of  what  can  be  accomplished  in  this 
direction  all  over  the  producing  sections  of  the  country,  and  I  feel  sure  that  coopera- 
tion along  these  lines  which,  to  my  mind,  are  practical,  will  serve  to  encourage  pro- 
duction, discourage  waste,  and  prove  a  direct  advantage  to  the  producer  and  con- 
sumer. 


XIII.   A  STUDY  OF  MARKETS  AND  THE  MARKETING  OF  FOODSTUFFS 


BY    G.    L.  BENNETT 

OfUce  of  the  President  of  the  Borough  of  The  Bronx 

A  Study  of  Markets  and  the  Marketing  of  Foodstuffs,  with  Special  Reference 
TO-  the  Provisioning  of  New  York  City 

Object  of  the  Study. — The  marketing  arrangements  and  provisioning  scheme  of 
New  York  City  are  admittedly  such  to-day  as  impose  upon  its  citizens  an  unduly 
heavy  expense  for  foodstuffs,  without  correspondingly  benefiting  anyone.  These  facts 
having  been  proven  and  the  public  demand  for  their  remedy  having  become  insistent, 
it  becomes  necessary  to  determine  what  form  the  remedy  shall  take. 

This  study  has  been  undertaken  to  furnish  an  analysis  of  existing  conditions,  and 
of  their  tendencies  of  growth,  as  an  aid  to  the  wise  planning  of  the  remedy. 

Scope  of  the  Study:  The  form  which  the  buildings,  traffic  facilities,  etc.,  of  a 
market  shall  take  are  all  merely  outward  expressions  of  an  underlying  method  of 
operation,  which  method  also  governs  the  locations  of  markets  and  the  extent  of  the 
group  of  buildings,  etc.,  which  shall  be  placed  in  any  one  such  location  in  the  pro- 
visioning area. 

It  has  therefore  been  deemed  necessary  to  make  a  study  first  of  this  underlying 
method  of  operation,  which  study  is  not  and  cannot  well  be  limited  to  facilities 
within  the  city,  but  should  also  include  the  general  subject  of  the  distribution  of  the 
supplies  of  the  country  among  the  consuming  centers  in  an  economical  manner.  It 
must  consider  not  only  the  various  articles  of  foodstuffs,  but  such  details  connected 
with  the  production,  shipping,  etc.,  of  these  articles  as  have  effect  upon  their  market- 
ing, and  upon  their  being  supplied  in  sufficient  quantity. 

Definition:  The  word  market  may  be,  and  commonly  is,  used  to  designate  a 
place  used  by  a  number  of  independent  sellers  as  a  sales  place,  such  as  Harlem 
Market,  Wallabout  Market,  etc.,  or  somewhat  more  collectively  as  the  markets  of  a 
city  as  a  whole,  as  the  New  York  Market,  the  Philadelphia  Market,  or  still  more  col- 
lectively as  foreign  markets,  domestic  markets,  etc. 

In  this  study  the  word  market  will  be  used  in  the  sense  of  a  sales  place  used  by 
a  number  of  independent  sellers. 

In  the  most  primitive  type  of  selling,  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  goods  sold 
had  to  be  carefully  examined  and  the  money  offered  in  exchange  had  to  be  just  as 
carefully  scrutinized.  There  was  thus  a  necessity  for  an  actual  meeting  of  the  princi- 
pals or  their  responsible  agents. 

With  the  meeting  of  more  buyers  and  more  sellers  there  was  more  opportunity 
for  each  seller  to  dispose  of  all  he  wished  to  sell  and  more  opportunity  for  each 
buyer  to  secure  what  he  wished  to  buy,  and  thus  markets  tended  naturally  to  continue 
to  increase  in  size,  until  the  distances  which  the  more  remote  buyers  and  sellers  had 
to  travel  became  prohibitive.  Each  buyer  brought  his  money,  each  seller  his  goods, 
and  thus  exchange  was  effected  on  the  spot. 

If  all  the  sellers  had  different  commodities,  or  distinctly  different  varieties  of  the 
same  commodity  for  sale,  there  would  be  no  need  for  the  establishment  of  a  market 

\ 


148 


price  for  any  commodity.  Each  seller  could  establish  his  own  price,  and  if  the  buyers 
had  to  have  his  commodity  they  would  have  to  pay  his  price.  But  where  a  number 
of  sellers  having  the  same  commodity  meet  a  number  of  buyers,  who  will  buy  heavily 
if  the  prices  are  low,  less  if  higher,  and  not  at  all  if  in  their  judgment  too  high,  and 
each  of  whom  desires  to  buy  at  least  as  cheaply  as  any  of  the  others,  a  set  of  prices  is 
established  for  the  different  grades  of  the  various  commodities  by  a  process  of  offers 
and  refusals,  which  prices  hold  perhaps  only  momentarily,  increasing  or  decreasing 
with  the  arrival  of  fresh  demands  or  fresh  supplies.  But  it  is  only  when  by  this 
process  of  offers  and  refusals  that  the  buyer  has  tried  out  the  sellers  that  the  buyer 
feels  that  he  is  sufficiently  informed  to  trade  to  advantage,  or  that  the  seller,  from 
repeated  refusals  and  no  trading,  learns  that  his  price  is  too  high  to  enable  him  to 
sell  sufficiently  or  at  all. 

Requirements  for  Any  Market. — To  be  successful,  therefore,  any  market  must 
furnish  the  following: 

(a)  Means  whereby  all  those  who  wish  to  buy  can  freely  and  easily  communicate 
with  all  those  who  wish  to  sell. 

(b)  Means  whereby  all  goods  and  the  equivalents  therefor  offered  may  be  in- 
spected and  tested  for  quantity  and  quality. 

(c)  Means  whereby  all  goods  sold  may  be  delivered  and  the  equivalents  therefor 
collected. 

(d)  Means  whereby  the  demand  acting  on  the  supply  can  establish  temporarily 
a  uniform  scale  of  prices  for  the  different  grades  of  the  various  commodities. 

Additional  Requirements  for  a  Provisioning  Scheme:  Any  market  is,  to  some 
extent,  a  provisioning  scheme;  for,  by  the  facilities  for  trading  which  it  furnishes, 
it  naturally  and  without  premeditated  action  in  this  direction  on  the  part  of  any  of 
the  persons  concerned  draws  to  itself  commodities  from  quite  distant  producing  areas. 

When,  however,  a  number  of  markets  draw  on  the  same  producing  areas  there 
comes  a  time  when  by  some  premeditated  action  on  the  part  of  those  concerned  it 
becomes  necessary  to  furnish  : 

(e)  Means  for  averaging  the  supply  so  that  oversupply  and  consequent  waste  shall 
not  exist  at  some  points  and  deficiency  with  consequent  high  prices  at  others. 

There  is  for  each  of  the  different  classes  of  consumers  served  by  any  market, 
depending  upon  their  wealth,  some  limit  of  price  which  they  can  afford  to  pay  for 
any  commodity. 

As  prices  get  higher  and  higher  they  refrain  more  and  still  more  from  the  use 
of  this  commodity,  and  as  prices  lower  they  use  this  commodity  more  and  still  more 
freely,  often  to  their  benefit.  It  is  not  therefore  sufficient  merely  to  have  the  market 
supplied  with  the  various  commodities,  but  it  is  necessary  to  supply  the  markets  at 
prices  which  the  consumers  can  afford.  This  gives  rise  to  the  further  requirements 
of  a  provisioning  scheme : 

(f)  Means  for  lowering  the  cost  of  the  various  commodities  to  the  final  consumer 
by  the  elimination  of  unnecessary  expense  and  waste. 

(g)  Means  for  the  stimulation  of  low-priced  supplies  by  the  removal  of  the  un- 
certainties which  have  made  the  marketing  of  such  supplies  over-hazardous  for  the 
producer. 

Program  of  Study. — With  these  requirements  for  any  market  in  mind,  it  will 
perhaps  be  well  to  look  over  the  field  first  comprehensively,  then  more  in  detail,  and 
later,  if  need  be,  to  study  especially  particular  points. 

Having  by  such  study  familiarized  ourselves  not  only  with  the  procedure  of  the 
present,  but  also  with  the  lines  along  which  progress  is  being  made  toward  remedying 
the  existing  bad  conditions,  it  will  be  well  by  a  process  of  trial  and  rejection  as  be- 
tween ideals  and  immutable  human  tendencies  to  determine,  from  the  one  or  more 
probable  schemes  evolved,  those  of  their  common  factors  which  have  need  of  recog- 


149 


nition  in  the  physical  structure  of  such  a  market  as  would  be  and  would  remain  useful 
for  some  reasonable  time  to  come. 

To  illustrate  so  that  the  reasonableness  of  expending  so  much  labor  shall  appear: 

Illustration  /i— Standards  whereby  to  describe  the  quality  of  various  foodstuffs 
have  come  into  more  common  use  in  the  last  several  years. 

At  first,  and  in  many  cases  at  present,  these  standards  are  only  of  local  acceptance. 
With  their  more  general  acceptance  and  their  more  rigidly  honest  observance  it  be- 
comes possible  to  sell  goods  by  description  only. 

When  this  is  accomplished,  the  market  with  all  its  trafific  and  commodity  handling 
conveniences  alters  and  becomes  an  Exchange  with  its  meeting  floor  and  suites  of 
offices,  to  the  very  considerable  benefit  in  delay  and  haulage  expense  saved  of  all  con- 
cerned. 

Illustration  B. — Again,  when  means  of  transportation,  such  as  an  improved  parcels 
post,  are  developed,  with  rates  which  are  not  prohibitive,  a  considerable  part  of  the 
foodstuffs  which  were  brought  in  comparatively  small  quantities,  aggregated  and 
shipped,  sold  and  probably  resold  in  large  quantities  and  later  again  sold  and  dis- 
tributed in  small  quantities,  will  have  a  strong  tendency  to  be  sent  directly  from 
producer  to  consumer;  in  this,  far  reducing  the  functions  of  the  market,  perhaps, 
to  those  of  the  determination  of  prices  and  of  standards  of  quality. 

The  Field  Comprehensively. — -To-day  a  large  consuming  center  like  New  York 
City  draws  its  food  supplies  from  far  and  near  over  a  large  producing  area,  the 
largest  part  being  brought  in  by  rail  and  steamer,  and  a  very  much  smaller  part 
by  trucks  from  the  surrounding  country. 

This  producing  area  serves  many  consuming  centers  at  the  same  time  and,  conse- 
quently, instead  of  all  shipments  from  the  producing  area  converging  on  one  center, 
they  are  going  many  ways  at  once. 

Some  of  the  nearby  producers  carry  their  goods  to  market  themselves,  selling 
generally  to  the  retailers,  but  the  great  bulk  of  the  marketing  is  done  through  one  of 
two  sets  of  intermediaries,  the  commission  men  in  the  market  to  whom  the  goods  are 
consigned  for  sale  and  the  retailers,  or  through  a  system  of  shippers,  receivers,  job- 
bers, and  retailers. 

All  of  these  buyers  and  sellers  are  working  for  their  own  personal  gains,  in  large 
part  without  coordination  of  effort  and  without  adequate  information  or  control  of 
the  situation.  Corners  are  attempted  and  succeed  or  fail  in  this  or  that  crop ;  short- 
ages and  gluts  succeed  each  other  rapidly;  crop  failures  of  one  section  benefit  an- 
other; car  shortages  turn  valuable  crops  into  useless  waste;  goods  shipped  to  markets 
which  are  short  arrive  when  the  market  is  flooded,  etc. 

Everywhere  there  is  activity,  uncertainty,  speculation,  efforts  at  cross  purposes, 
gain  and  loss,  waste.  Plenty  of  effort,  plenty  of  order  within  certain  limits,  but  all 
of  individuals  or  independent  companies.  No  central,  dominant  intelligence,  advising, 
directing,  controlling,  compelling  the  proper  distribution  of  the  food  supplies  among 
the  consuming  centers  to  the  great  benefit  of  all  concerned,  the  marketing  of  to-day 
has,  by  a  number  of  those  engaged  in  it,  been  freely  described  as  being  in  a  chaotic 
condition. 

There  are,  however,  organizations  of  producers  for  shipping  and  marketing  and 
other  similar  movements  already  in  operation  or  organizing  which,  if  they  become 
sufficiently  far  spread,  may  greatly  modify  and  benefit  the  existing  conditions.  These 
will  be  treated  later. 

It  becomes  at  this  point  desirable  to  note  the  change  which  is  taking  place  in  the 
whole  attitude  of  persons  having  business  relations. 

Previous  to  the  last  few  years,  business  men  and  economists  in  general  saw  the 
principal  hope  of  human  progress,  on  all  but  the  religious  and  ethical  sides  of  life,  in 
that  striving  of  man  with  man  which  they  called  competition. 


150 


In  their  minds'  eyes,  this  was  a  race  wherein  men  ran  side  by  side  under  fair 
rules  and  order,  with  a  free  field  ahead,  and  the  best  man  won.  Actually,  it  was 
much  more  frequently  a  fight  in  which  the  contending  parties  strove  partly  to  ad- 
vance in  their  direction  and  partly  to  impede  the  advance  of  others;  and  quite  fre- 
quently it  was  a  general  melee,  out  of  which  some  one  merged  or  escaped  with  the 
prize  won  by  force  or  by  low  cunning  more  often  than  by  merit. 

Long  and  sad  experience  has  proven  amply  that,  while  competition  sharpens  the 
wits,  it  does  not  always  sharpen  them  in  any  way  beneficial  to  the  community  nor 
even  to  the  particular  ones  so  sharpened  on  any  other  than  their  financial  sides. 
Competition  in  commercial  life  sometimes  causes  improvements,  but  where  those  in 
the  competition  realize  that  each  improvement  made  by  them  only  provokes  a  like 
improvement  by  all  the  others,  and  thus  a  reestablishment  of  nearly  or  quite  the 
previous  state  of  competition;  but,  with  an  additional  outlay  of  capital  for  the  im- 
provements, without  a  sufficient  increase  of  total  profits  to  be  divided  to  pay  for  the 
capital  so  laid  out,  then  competition  can  and  does  cause  the  suppression  of  improve- 
ments which  are  not  so  pronounced  and  basic  as  to  give,  for  some  considerable  time 
to  the  competitor  who  puts  out  the  improvement,  a  much  larger  share  of  the  total 
business  or  total  proSts  than  he  had  before. 

Under  competition  there  is  a  large  waste  and  a  bad  misdirection  of  energy.  Each 
competing  individual  or  group  must  be  fully  equipped  for  the  competition,  and  a 
very  considerable  and  expensive  part  of  such  equipment  is  the  advertising  and  selling 
force  devoted  mainly  to  securing  for  such  competitor  a  chance  to  usefully  and,  in- 
cidentally, gainfully  be  of  service  to  others. 

Certain  wise  men  of  finance,  appreciating  this,  some  few  years  ago  brought  about 
great  consolidations,  especially  in  manufacturing  lines,  converting  these  warring  com- 
petitors into  mutually  helpful  units,  to  their  great  benefit  Unfortunately,  this,  in 
many  cases,  gave  them  also  practically  complete  control  of  the  situation  so  that  they 
were  free  to  adjust  the  prices  charged  to  their  own  ideas  of  what  would  yield  them 
the  maximum  profit  which  it  was  wise  to  take. 

Such  a  situation  has  its  dangers.  However,  up  to  date,  these  large  combinations 
have  generally  behaved  with  great  wisdom  and  moderation.  And,  irrespective  of  who 
in  this  country  has  the  profits,  the  country  as  a  whole  is  richer  by  the  savings  of 
those  misdirected  energies  of  the  competitors. 

The  general  public  has,  in  these  past  few  years,  come  to  realize  with  increasing 
clearness  the  advantages  of  cooperation  not  merely  among  the  producers,  but  among 
the  consumers  as  well.  And  in  increasing  numbers,  each  swallowing  that  perhaps 
inborn  hope  of  raising  himself  above  his  fellows,  they  have  turned  toward  better 
ideals  of  equality  and  fraternity. 

In  place  of  the  old  suspiciousness,  secretiveness,  and  jealousy,  there  is  now  abroad 
in  many  directions  ai^  amazing  degree  of  good  will,  generosity,  and  helpfulness.  Not 
only  are  producers  recognizing  the  advantages  of  helping  each  other,  but  they  begin 
to  see  the  desirability  of  treating  the  other  side  of  the  market,  the  consumer,  in 
some  fairer  way  than  competition  and  the  law  of  demand  and  supply,  as  previously 
applied,  provided. 

The  producers,  especially  the  farmers,  being  better  business  men  and  having  more 
at  stake  than  the  consumers  have  been  in  this  country  more  successful  in  establish- 
ing cooperative  groups.  But  the  movement  is  in  the  air  and  it  would  seem  to  be  a 
mistake  not  to  consider  well  the  probable  effect  of  the  general  adoption  of  such 
methods  when  planning  for  a  marketing  system. 

Producer. — Taking  up  the  consideration  of  the  field  more  in  detail,  let  us  co^^ider 
first  the  producer  and  his  money — crop  or  crops,  i.  e.,  those  which  he  sells  outright 
for  cash;  and  also  his  transportation  means. 

Given  a  farmer  whose  climate,  soil,  period  of  his  crop  rotation,  distance  from 


151 


market,  transit  facilities,  acreage,  capital,  help,  equipment,  personal  education,  and 
experience  make  certain  crops  possible  at  some  particular  planting  time,  what  shall  he 
plant  to  make  a  profit?  What  crop  and  what  variety  of  that  crop,  and  shall  he 
force  or  retard  its  development?  How  shall  be  know  that  too  many  others  are 
planting  his  choice,  and  not  enough  of  some  other  crops  which  he  could  grow? 

The  factors  above  enumerated  and  others  may  narrow  his  choice  of  crops  to  a 
half  dozen,  but,  even  if  narrowed  down  to  one,  there  is  still  the  choice  of  whether 
early  or  late  varieties  are  to  be  planted;  still  the  gamble  as  to  whether,  after  having, 
by  skill,  foresight,  and  labor,  brought  to  harvest  a  large  choice  crop  in  spite  of 
weather,  diseases,  and  pests,  he  will  find  the  market  glutted  or  short;  still  the  farther 
uncertainty  as  to  what,  between  spoilage  in  transit  and  improper  returns,  he  will 
actually  receive  in  cash  for  his  crop. 

If  his  acreage  be  large  enough  or,  not  being  large,  be  close  enough  to  market  to 
permit  of  small  shipments,  he  may,  by  growing  a  number  of  different  crops  of  this 
perishable  type,  escape  the  necessity  of  risking  so  much  on  a  single  throw. 

Still,  he  must  get  and  prepare  his  seed,  prepare  his  ground,  and  plant  long  months 
before  he  can  harvest.    And  all  others  must  do  the  same. 

A  difference  of  one  or  two  days  in  the  time  when  goods  reach  the  market  quite 
frequently  marks  the  difference  between  a  good  profit  and  a  heavy  loss. 

Except  for  the  growing  of  fruits  and  vegetables  on  contract  for  canneries,  there  is 
little  buying  or  contracting  for  crops  before  they  are  planted.  The  uncertainty  as 
to  the  size  of  his  crop  would  still  be  upon  the  farmer,  but  the  uncertainty  as  to  the 
total  acreage  of  the  whole  producing  area  of  this  crop  to  be  planted,  and  those  of 
the  marketing,  would  be  upon  the  speculator,  and  the  speculators  do  not  seem  to  care 
to  take  such  odds.  Crops  are  often  bought  just  after  statistics  as  to  the  acreage 
actually  planted  throughout  the  producing  area,  conditions,  etc.,  have  been  gathered, 
but  here  the  speculator  is  taking  a  much  smaller  chance  than  the  farmer  has  to  take. 

There  is  no  trustworthy  information  generally  available  sufficiently  in  advance, 
and  none  other  than  isolated  private  means  on  most  foodstuffs  for  getting  a  re- 
liable canvass  of  the  doings  of  those  who,  because  of  their  earlier  season,  have  al- 
ready planted  and  of  the  intentions  of  those  who  have  not  yet  planted.  And  such 
information,  if  gotten,  would  have  to  be  much  modified  by  a  knowledge  of  the  farm- 
ing abilities,  ordinary  yields  per  acre,  etc.,  of  the  various  planters  before  it  would 
furnish  much  of  a  basis  of  judgment  whereby  to  plant. 

The  expense  of  such  a  canvass  is  far  beyond  the  means  of  the  ordinary  producer 
and  far  beyond  the  pecuniary  benefit  which  it  could  be  to  him. 

Under  these  conditions,  what  to  plant  is  sometimes  based  upon  judgment  born 
of  long  experience  with  this  gambling  game;  more  often  it  is  a  mere  matter  of 
opinion.  Some  farmers,  for,  to  them,  a  sufficiency  of  reasons,  grow  the  same  money 
crop  each  year,  some  grow  the  same  variety  each  year,  trusting  that  if  they  miss  it 
this  year  they  will  hit  it  next;  others  switch  back  and  forth,  sometimes  hit  it  two 
or  more  years  in  succession,  and  perhaps  oftener  miss  it  year  after  year. 

Among  foodstuff  crops,  one  of  the  qualities  of  most  importance  from  a  marketing 
point  of  view  is  perishability. 

A  crop  may  lose  value  by  loss  of  appearance,  or  of  both  appearance  and  quality, 
as  a  consequence  of  ripening  which  it  is  not  possible  to  delay  without  cooking  or 
canning,  and  this  may  come  about  when  under  good  conditions  of  ventilation,  tempera- 
ture, moisture,  and  freedom  from  bruises,  initial  blemishes,  direct  exposure  to  sun, 
motion  or  physical  violence,  or  it  may  be  caused  by  a  poor  condition  of  any  of  the 
above. 

By  carefully  keeping  crops  under  good  conditions,  their  perishability  may  be 
greatly  reduced,  and  thus  some  of  the  most  perishable  are  brought  long  distances 
to  market — vide  berries  from  North  Carolina  to  New  York  City. 


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The  producer  has  to  consider,  then,  that  a  crop  of  his  which  may  have  time  enough 
to  await  in  market  an  opportunity  for  an  advantageous  sale,  if  conditions  can  be  kept 
favorable  to  its  lasting  en  route  and  when  in  storage,  must  perhaps  be  marketed  at 
once  if  these  conditions  are  not  right,  and  may  not  therefore  bring  him  anything 
like  as  satisfactory  a  return. 

Among  foodstufifs,  perishability  may  be  considered  as  being  of  four  quite  different 
classes. 

First :  Those  foodstuffs  such  as  peaches,  berries,  sweet  corn,  tomatoes,  milk,  etc., 
which  cannot  by  cold  storage  or  other  means  except  preserving,  etc.,  be  kept  un- 
spoiled more  than  a  few  days  after  they  are  ready  to  be  eaten.  These  will  hereafter 
be  spoken  of  as  "perishable"  foodstuffs. 

Second :  Those  foodstuffs,  such  as  certain  varieties  of  apples  and  pears,  also 
potatoes,  cabbage,  etc.,  which  can  be  stored  in  cool  storage  and  so  kept  for  a  limited 
time,  depending  upon  the  variety  (kind)  of  the  article  thus  stored.  These  goods 
spoil  rapidly  when  thawed  after  freezing,  but  if  kept  cool  they  will  last  varying  times 
up  to  perhaps  nine  months,  in  the  case  of  some  of  the  best  keepers.  Without  some 
type  of  cool  storage,  whether  natural  or  artificial,  these  same  foodstuffs  would  prob- 
ably not  last  more  than  a  month. 

These  will  hereafter  be  spoken  of  as  "semi-perishable"  foodstuffs. 

Third:  Those  foodstuffs  such  as  fresh  meats,  eggs,  fish,  etc.,  which  will  remain 
unspoiled  if  kept  frozen  for  very  long  periods,  but  which  would  spoil  quite  quickly  at 
summer  heat.    These  will  hereafter  be  spoken  of  as  "cold  storage"  foodstuffs. 

Fourth :  Those  foodstuffs  such  as  grains,  dried  fruits,  dried  legumes,  etc.,  which 
will  last  almost  indefinitely  if  merely  kept  dry  and  free  from  insect  pests.  Such  will 
hereafter  be  spoken  of  as  "non-perishable"  foodstuffs. 

Several  of  the  perishable  crops  are  openly  classed  by  producers  as  "gamble"  crops, 
both  because  of  their  perishability  and  because  of  their  quantity  and  the  frequency 
with  which  they  arrive  on  the  market ;  crops  which  one  day  may  bring  a  good  profit 
and  on  the  next  day  not  bring  enough  to  pay  their  transportation  expenses. 

The  producer  necessarily  grows  his  crops  in  wholesale  quantities.  His  is  to  a 
considerable  extent  a  manufacturing  proposition,  and  as  such,  to  keep  costs  low,  he 
must  produce  large  quantities  of  like  article. 

The  Nearby  Producer. — Where  distance  from  market  is  not  prohibitive,  and  where 
he  can  secure  sufficiently  trustworthy  help  so  that  he  can  absent  himself  from  his 
main  work  of  production,  he  may  market  his  "semi-perishable"  and  sometimes  his 
"perishable"  goods  direct  to  retailers.  He  may  even  sell  his  "semi-perishable"  goods 
direct  to  consumers  who,  in  this  case,  buy  in  such  sized  quantities  that  the  producer 
can  afford  to  deliver.  But  apart  from  a  very  few  producers  who  have  undertaken 
the  "hamper"  distribution  scheme,  whereby  the  consumer  places  an  order  in  advance 
for  a  hamper  to  be  delivered  to  him  once  in  so  often  and  to  contain  a  variety  of  such 
vegetables  and  fruits  as  the  producer  can  in  his  judgment  furnish  best,  there  is  little 
direct  selling  of  "perishable"  foodstuffs  from  producers  to  individual  consumers. 
Restaurants,  hotels,  institutions,  and  other  aggregated  consumers  are  sometimes  sup- 
plied directly  by  producers. 

Thirty  to  thirty-five  miles  over  good  roads  and  easy  grades  is  about  the  limit  of 
distance  for  horse-drawn  vehicles  and,  while  longer  distances  could  doubtless  be 
traveled  by  motor  trucks,  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  so  employed  to  any  con- 
siderable extent  around  New  York. 

Transportation. — Cars,  ships,  or  other  means  of  transportation  are  run  either  on 
a  time  schedule  or  else  at  the  convenience  of  shipper  and  of  the  transportation  com- 
pany. 

Cars,  ships,  and  steamboats  run  on  schedule  are  usually  operated  in  lines,  having 


153 


regular  times  and  places  for  the  loading  and  landing  of  freight,  and  agents  who 
solicit  for,  receive,  and  deliver  it. 

They  take  freight  in  any  quantity,  large  or  small,  and,  since  they  carry  crews 
whose  business  it  is  to  personally  conduct  these  means  of  transportation  over  the 
line's  route,  they  are  usually  quite  reliable.  Such  freight  "lines"  are  usually  only 
operated  from  and  to  those  points  where  there  is  sufficient  regular  traffic  during  the 
operating  season  to  justify  the  service,  and  are  commonly  used  for  fast  freight  ser- 
vice mainly. 

Steamships,  steamboats,  and  other  vessels  may  be  engaged  specially,  i.  e.,  chartered 
to  carry  cargoes  of  goods  between  certain  points,  but,  in  this  case,  whether  used  or 
not,  a  considerable  portion  of  the  maximum  capacity  of  the  vessel  must  be  paid  for. 

Steamboats. — Local  steamboats  running  on  regular  schedules  furnish  very  con- 
venient and  reliable  means  for  the  transportation  of  "perishable"  and  "semi-perish- 
able" produce  in  any  sized  quantities.  The  producer  delivers  his  produce  to  the 
steamboat  dock  and  the  commission  man  or  receiver,  whose  aid  is  generally  used  in 
this  type  of  marketing,  trucks  from  the  boat  to  the  market.  As  a  consequence  of 
this  reliability  and  convenience  the  growing  of  diversified  crops  of  the  "perishable" 
type  receives  considerable  attention  in  those  parts  of  the  country  convenient  to  the 
landing  places  of  those  river,  harbor,  and  canal  steamers  which  cater  to  this  type 
of  freight. 

Boats  driven  by  wind,  steam,  or  petroleum,  and  owned  and  operated  by  the 
producers  themselves,  are,  in  some  cases,  used  to  transport  foodstuffs.  Vessels 
are  also  sometimes  chartered  by  producers  or  groups  of  producers. 

Canal  Boats. — Animal-drawn  canal  boats  have  in  the  past  been  much  used  for 
the  transportation  of  non-perishable  and  even  of  some  of  the  semi-perishable  food- 
stuffs. Service  on  many  of  the  canals  around  New  York  City  has  deteriorated  con- 
siderably and  in  most  cases,  if  available  at  all,  is  so  only  for  whole  boatloads.  This 
inconvenience  has  reached  the  point  where  railroad  services  even  at  their  much 
higher  rates  are  generally  preferred. 

Railroads.— CzT5  differ  in  dimensions  and  there  is  for  each  particular  car  a 
maximum  weight-carrying  capacity,  beyond  which  that  car  must  not  be  loaded. 
Depending  only  in  part  on  the  size  of  the  car,  and  mostly  upon  a  mass  of  com- 
promises, agreements,  etc.,  between  the  shippers  and  the  railroads  and  between 
the  various  railroads,  there  is,  for  each  particular  commodity,  according  to  its 
classification,  a  minimum  car  load,  which  is  the  least  weight  that  can  be  trans- 
ported exclusively  on  that  trip  of  that  car  without  additional  payment  for  this 
privilege.  Any  quantity  between  the  minimum  carload  and  the  maximum  load  for 
the  car  actually  used  can  be  shipped ;  and  less  than  carloads  can  also  be  shipped  thus 
exclusively  as  carloads  by  paying  for  the  minimum  carload  weight  at  the  rate 
to  the  destination  for  the  particular  commodity  shipped. 

In  the  very  many  cases  where  the  scheduled  fast  freight  line  service  is  not 
available  goods  have  to  be  shipped  by  ordinary  freight. 

Goods  may  be  shipped  by  rail  in  less  than  carload  lots ;  by  railroads  or  by  train 
loads,  and  this  by  either  ordinary  or,  where  available,  by  fast  freight  line. 

While  whole  train  loads  go  through  with  generally  only  delays  for  change  of 
engines  and  for  a  right  of  way  along  the  tracks,  cars,  if  not  shipped  by  scheduled 
lines  and  if  so  destined  as  to  require  transference  from  one  division  to  another 
or  one  road  to  another,  have  often  to  wait  at  junction  points  or  switching  yards 
for  resorting  and  making  up  into  trains. 

Goods  in  less  than  carload  lots  shipped  by  ordinary  freight  may  have,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  above  delays,  those  caused  by  making  up  out  of  the  miscellaneous  articles 
received  from  the  various  shippers  a  carload  for  the  same  destination,  or,  in  lieu  of  a 


154 


sufficiency  for  such  destination,  of  a  sufficiency  for  a  convenient  junction  or  switching 
point  on  the  route  toward  that  destination. 

Since  few  but  the  least  perishable  of  foodstuffs  can  stand  the  repeated  handlings 
and  delays  incidental  to  shipment  by  ordinary  freight  in  less  than  full  carloads,  those 
producers  who  ship  perishable  goods  by  rail  must  either: 

(a)  Have  scheduled  fast  freight  service; 

(b)  Have  sufficient  goods  ready  at  one  time  to  make  full  car  loads;  or 

(c)  Pay  the  difference  between  the  loads  they  have  and  the  minimum  car  load, 

for  the  sake  of  the  condition  of  the  goods  on  arrival  at  market;  or 

(d)  Combine  with  other  producers  then  ready  to  ship,  so  as  to  get  somewhere 

between  minimum  and  maximum  car  loads ;  or 

(e)  Sell  to  either  speculators  or  those  who,  at  some  local  shipping  points, 

make  a  business  of  buying  and  shipping. 

Goods  in  any  quantity  shipped  by  scheduled  fast  freight  and  goods  in  train  loads 
seldom  get  lost;  single  cars  get  lost  with  considerable  frequency,  and  stay  lost  some- 
times for  days  at  a  time;  less  than  car  load  shipments  often  fare  worse. 

A  railroad,  having  once  accepted  goods  as  perishable,  is  liable  for  the  damages 
which  the  goods  can  be  proven  to  have  sustained  by  delays  beyond  a  reasonable 
time  for  transportation.  The  shipper  will  therefore  suffer  less  loss  if  the  goods  are 
delayed  sufficiently  to  be  spoiled  utterly  than  he  will  if,  as  is  more  often  the  case,  they 
are  damaged  slightly,  in  which  event  it  is  often  difficult  to  prove  damage. 

Almost  all  foodstuffs,  except  parts  of  the  milk  and  meat  supplies,  brought  to 
New  York  by  rail  have  to  be  taken  to  market  from  the  railroad  by  trucks. 

Express. — Transportation  by  express,  with  its  widespreading  combination  of 
facilities  to  forward  expeditiously  shipments  of  any  size,  large  or  small,  from  the 
producers  nearest  the  express  station  to  the  commission  man  or  receiver  direct,  would 
be  the  ideal  way  if  it  were  not  for  the  high  charges  usually  made. 

Steamship  lines,  because  of  their  great  per  diem  expense  and  of  the  time  and 
facilities  required  to  dock  them,  cannot  "call"  for  small  freight  offerings  as  can  river 
steamboats.  They  can,  however,  take  individual  shipments  of  any  size,  large  or 
small ;  and  they  often  use  any  or  all  of  the  above  described  means  to  collect  their 
large  cargoes  at  a  few  main  shipping  points. 

Deterioration  in  Transit. — Wagons  or  motor  trucks  can  cause  goods  to  deteriorate 
very  rapidly  or  very  little,  depending  upon  how  they  are  equipped  and  how  handled. 

Steamboats  generally  carry  the  goods  under  cover  on  deck,  and,  therefore,  furnish 
pretty  good  ventilation ;  do  not  expose  to  very  high  temperatures  nor  to  strong 
sun.  Depending  upon  the  roughness  of  the  water,  they  may  or  may  not  cause 
the  goods  to  suffer  from  the  motion  and  shock. 

Steamships  have  very  often  cooling  rooms  for  the  transportation  of  perishable 
foodstuffs.  For  goods  carried  in  the  hold  their  ventilation  is  not  generally  as  good 
as  that  of  steamboats,  but  is  often  superior  to  that  of  the  ordinary  freight  car. 

By  rail  foodstuffs  are  generally  shipped  in  box-cars,  which  may  be  the  ordinary 
box-car  with  tight  ends,  roof,  and  floor  and  no  ventilators,  or  it  may  be  ventilated, 
or  it  may  be  a  special  car,  like  a  refrigerator  car,  slat-sided,  like  a  cattle  car,  etc 

Perishable  or  semi-perishable  goods  shipped  in  a  tight  box-car  in  even  moderately 
warm  weather  may  "heat,"  "sweat,"  and  take  considerable  damage;  shipped  in 
hot  weather  they  may  easily  spoil ;  shipped  in  very  cold  weather  they  may  freeze  and 
thus  spoil.  Transportation  by  refrigerator  cars,  which,  by  the  use  of  ice  in  summer 
and  by  the  ventilators  provided  in  such  cars,  reduces  loss,  costs  more. 


155 


Reliability. — Generally  speaking,  for  certainty,  reliability,  and  freedom  from  vexa- 
tious delays  due  to  mistakes. 

The  wagon  or  other  privately  controlled  means  is  best. 
The  steamboat  is  next  best. 

The  steamship  next,  where  difficulties  do  not  arise  in  getting  the  goods  to  the 
steamship. 

The  railroad  is  worst. 

Time  Taken  in  Transit. — The  time  consumed  in  transit  is  always  composed  of 
two  parts — the  time  spent  in  moving  and  the  time  spent  in  delays  and  setbacks. 
As  the  speed  of  the  actual  movement. decreases  with  the  increase  of  traffic  congestion 
nearer  the  market,  and,  as  the  delays  increase  with  the  same  cause,  short  distance 
shipments  to  a  big  market  are  always  relatively  much  slower  than  long  distance 
ones. 

To  make  proper  comparison  of  the  time  spent  in  transit  it  will,  therefore,  be 
necessary  to  compare  the  means  available  for  the  different  distances. 

For  very  long  distances,  where  there  are  special  inducements  for  dispatch,  goods  • 
by  whole  train  loads  can  sometimes  be  gotten  through  quicker  than  by  steamship; 
but,  with  convenient  means  for  delivering  the  goods  to  steamships,  steamships  are 
generally  quicker  than  railroads  for  goods  in  either  train  loads  or  in  the  carload 
lots. 

For  distances  covered  by  steamboat  these  are  generally  quicker  than  trains. 

For  distances  which  can  be  covered  by  trucks  these  are  generally  much  quicker 
than  trains.  Animal-drawn  canal  boats  are  generally  slower  than  trains.  (See 
Appendix  A.) 

Costs  of  Transportation. — Transportation  costs  are  also  composed  of  two  parts: 
the  costs  incidental  to  moving  the  freight  and  the  costs  incidental  to  the  handling 
of  the  freight  at  terminals.  Freight  charges,  while  figured  on  the  weight  moved 
at  the  rate  fixed  for  either  carloads  or  less  than  carloads  for  the  particular  commodity 
moved  and  are  not  really  based  on  the  cost  of  such  moving. 

While  the  transportation  company's  total  costs  of  moving  the  freight  and  of 
the  costs  incidental  to  its  handling  at  the  terminals  are  recognized  to  some  extent, 
the  principle  of  making  the  freight  stand  what  its  value,  or  what  the  margin  of 
profit  in  it,  will  permit  is  so  used  in  making  the  rate  that  distance  is,  to  a  very  con- 
siderable extent,  disregarded,  and  some  commodities  are  carried  for  much  less  than 
actual  cost  while  others  pay  far  more. 

Transportation  charges,  instead  of  being  a  simple  matter  of  the  total  costs  of  the 
service  rendered  plus  a  reasonable  profit  for  each  case,  have  thus  become  extremely 
complicated,  due  to  the  injection  of  this  semi-paternal  principle. 

The  consumer  is  affected  by  the  total  transportation  costs,  since  he  is  generally 
assumed  to  pay  these  with  all  other  charges;  the  producer  or  shipper  is  commonly 
supposed  to  be  interested  only  to  the  extent  of  securing  for  himself  as  favorable 
a  rate  as  is  given  to  any  other  producer  supplying  the  same  market  with  the  same 
quality  of  the  same  commodity.  Actually,  however,  since,  if  the  price  to  the 
consumer  becomes  too  high,  the  demand  falls  off,  the  producer  is  interested  in  the 
total  transportation  costs. 

Since  freight  rates  are  made  largely  as  a  matter  of  business  policy  on  the  part 
of  the  transportation  company,  rather  than  in  direct  proportion  to  the  service  rendered, 
concerted  action  on  the  part  of  a  number  of  shippers  frequently  has  effects  ad- 
vantageous to  their  interests.  Also  in  shipping,  as  in  all  other  pursuits,  personal  in- 
terest counts.  The  shipper  who  is  equipped  with  and  can  afford,  from  the  size  of  his 
interests  at  stake,  to  use  means  to  follow  up  his  shipments  from  the  start  to  the 
finish  of  their  journey,  will  generally  get  far  different  service  for  the  same  rate 


156 


from  him  who  simply  delivers  his  stuff  for  transportation  and  then  waits  resignedly 
for  notice  of  its  receipt  at  destination. 

Transportation  by  rail  presents  the  advantage  which  none  of  the  other  methods 
do  at  present  that  goods  can  be  carried  without  rehandling  to  any  domestic  market. 

This  is  of  advantage  to  all  shippers  who  attempt  to  better  themselves  by 
taking  chances  on  getting  their  goods  into  that  market  which  at  the  time  of  ship- 
ment offers  the  best  opportunity.  It  is  of  especial  advantage  to  those  distant 
shippers  who  forward  their  goods  to  some  convenient  transfer  point  in  the  general 
direction  of  their  proposed  markets  and  who  later,  from  reports  received  as  to  the 
condition  of  their  goods  at  arrival  at  this  point  and  of  the  conditions  in  the  various 
markets,  order  their  goods  to  what  seems  to  be  the  most  advantageous  market. 

The  Securing  of  Transportation. — Of  transportation  controlled  and  operated  by 
the  shipper  nothing  need  be  said. 

Steamboats  generally  have  capacity  enough,  but  require  advice  in  advance  of  very 
large  projected  shipments. 

Steamships  frequently  require  advance  engagements.  They  can,  however,  often 
make  room  for  the  more  perishable,  more  urgent,  and,  therefore,  somewhat  better 
paying,  stuff  at  the  expense  of  delay  to  something  else. 

Empty  cars  for  transportation  have  to  be  ordered  in  advance,  and,  since  the 
railroads  often  are  short  of  cars,  or  have  none  in  that  locality  to  place  at  the  ship- 
per's disposal,  the  shipper  has  sometimes  to  wait. 

This  delay  may  easily  with  a  "perishable"  crop,  or,  under  some  circumstances, 
with  a  "semi-perishable"  crop,  mean  a  complete  loss ;  and,  since  the  railroad  assumes 
no  obligation  whatever  until  the  goods  are  loaded  on  cars,  the  loss  is  the  shipper's. 
This  was  the  cause  of  the  failure  of  one  big  speculator  who  attempted  to  "corner" 
the  Carolina  berry  market ;  and  it  has  ruined  a  number  of  those  speculators  who 
buy  apples  on  the  trees  and,  with  their  own  men,  pick,  pack,  and  ship  them  to 
market.  They  got  the  apples  in  barrels  to  the  freight  station  and  there  they  stood 
without  adequate  cover  and  means  to  keep  the  temperature  low  enough,  and,  in 
waiting  for  cars,  spoiled. 

Producing  Districts. — If,  in  a  certain  locality,  the  soil  and  climate  are  found  to 
be  particularly  adapted  to  some  certain  crop,  that  locality  has  a  very  strong  tendency 
to  become  a  grower  of  that  crop  as  its  chief,  if  not,  indeed,  its  exclusive,  money 
crop.  All  of  the  factors  so  far  considered  tend  to  augment  this  tendency.  The 
uncertainties  as  to  what  to  plant  are  much  reduced  when  the  crop  itself  is  decided 
upon  and  when  the  neighbors  have  all  become  quite  bona  fide  experts  on  all  phases 
of  this  particular  crop's  growing  and  marketing. 

It  is  less  difficult  to  get  good  help,  there  is  less  personal  experimentation  re- 
quired to  find  out  the  proper  equipment,  and,  finally,  shipping  difficulties  and  market 
difficulties  are  much  reduced  where  many  of  the  neighbors  have  a  common  interest. 
The  advantages  of  a  crop  common  to  a  district  are  so  great  that  most  districts  so 
blessed  are  fast  becoming  more  prosperous,  more  extensive,  and  more  thickly  popu- 
lated ;  while  in  districts  not  thus  organized  the  individual  farmer  is  commonly  not 
much  more  than  holding  his  own. 

Farmers'  Associations. — Farmers  have  long  had  associations,  such  as  the  grange, 
but  in  the  districts  where  the  producers  are  not  bound  together  by  a  common  chief 
crop,  these  associations  have  not  in  general  attained  the  business  significance  and 
organization  of  the  single  crop  districts.  Under  various  names — Farmers'  Exchange, 
Truck  Growers'  Association,  Fruit  Growers'  Association,  Potato  Growers'  Associa- 
tion, etc. — these  latter  furnish  the  farmers  means  to  buy  collectively  in  quantity  to 
advantage;  means  to  comlMne  for  better  shipping  facilities;  means  to  secure  informa- 
tion of  market  conditions,  and  in  some  cases  they  hire  agents  who  follow  up  ship- 
ments and  who,  one  or  more  at  each  market,  inspect  the  goods  on  arrival,  report 


157 


on  their  condition,  on  market  sales,  etc.,  and  thus  prevent  loss  through  delay 
or  peculations  in  transit  or  improper  reports  of  conditions  or  sales  by  the  com- 
mission men. 

Some  of  the  associations  establish  standards  whereby  to  grade  and  size  the 
crop ;  establish  and  operate  packing  houses ;  originate  or  determine  the  size  and 
shape  of  the  package  or  containers  in  which  shipment  is  made ;  establish  and  ad- 
vertise marks  and  trade  names.  Some  hold  auctions  of  the  products  grown  by  the 
members  of  their  association  and  in  this  way  market  the  products  of  their  members. 

Canning  and  Other  Preserving  Establishments. — In  many  of  those  special  dis- 
tricts whose  chief  crops  are  certain  of  the  "perishable"  foodstuffs,  canning  or  other 
preserving  factories  have  been  established.  Where  the  district  is  within  easy  ship- 
ping distance  of  market  these  take  the  unshipped  surplus  and  also  some  which  is 
grown  with  intent  to  sell  to  them. 

In  remote  districts  the  uncertainties  attending  marketing  are  somewhat  relieved 
for  the  producer  by  these  establishments,  which,  while  they  take  a  risk  as  to  the 
market's  later  conditions,  have  a  long  season  in  which  to  dispose  of  their  product. 

Canneries  are  thus  decidedly  advantageous  means  to  the  producer  of  spreading  the 
glut  of  a  short  season  over  months  of  shortage  of  supply  and  of  eliminating  the 
losses  due  to  spoilage  in  transportation. 

There  are  some  canneries  run  cooperatively  by  the  producers,  but  most  are  run 
by  independent  operators,  who  market  either  under  their  own  brands  or  under  the 
brands  of  one  or  more  of  the  wholesale  grocery  houses,  or  both. 

Most  of  the  foodstuffs  especially  considered  thus  far  have  been  those  which,  after 
leaving  the  producer,  require  no  treatment  that  the  ordinary  consumer  is  not  pre- 
pared to  give. 

Grains,  animals,  some  animal  products,  and  a  few  other  foodstuffs  have,  how- 
ever, to  be  given  special  preparation. 

So  far  as  possible  the  factories  doing  this  preparation  have  located  along  the 
traffic  lines  leading  from  the  districts  which  produce  these  articles  to  the  consuming 
centers. 

Grain  is  grown  most  largely  on  the  newer  grounds.  .As  soon  as  threshed  it  used 
to  be  hauled  to  the  railroads  and  shipped  to  the  big  elevators  for  storage.  This 
was  done  because  the  farmers  needed  the  money;  because  their  roads  became  im- 
passable after  a  while;  because  they  had  no  bins  or  other  places  of  their  own  in 
which  to  store,  and  because  there  were  no  local  elevators. 

The  effects  of  handling  so  much  grain  at  once  was  depressing  on  the  grain  market, 
disturbing  to  the  money  market,  and  the  cause  of  car  shortage  to  the  railroads. 

Then,  as  now,  speculators  bought  grain  while  it  was  standing  and  advanced 
money  on  it. 

But  their  grain  had  to  be  moved  at  the  same  time  as  the  farmer's  on  account  of 
the  wagon  roads. 

The  local  elevators,  better  wagon  roads,  to  the  improvement  of  which  the  rail- 
roads have  contributed,  and  the  growing  practice  among  the  farmers  of  holding 
their  own  grain  for  better  market  prices  have  steadied  the  marketing  of  grain. 

Local  elevators  were  largely  established  by  large  dealers,  one  of  whom  would 
operate  a  string  of  elevators.  Here  the  grain  was  sampled,  measured,  and  stored. 
Payment  was  made  partly  in  cash,  partly  in  supplies  of  all  sorts,  thus  giving  the 
elevator  man  a  profit  both  as  a  buyer  and  as  a  seller. 

A  considerable  number  of  cooperative  elevators  or  farmer's  elevators  are  now 
in  operation. 

Since  the  milling  and  consumption  of  the  grain  extend  anyway  throughout  the 
whole  year  there  is  for  the  Inilk  of  this  crop  plenty  of  time  which  may  as  well  be 
spent  in  transportation  as  in  elevator  storage.    Cheap  transportation,  like  canal-boat 


158 


transportation,  would,  therefore,  be  ideal  for  the  grain  from  all  but  the  northern 
grain  fields,  which  latter  might  not  be  able  to  get  through  before  ice  closed  the 
canals. 

Of  the  principal  grains,  wheat,  corn,  oats,  rye,  barley  and  rice,  wheat  and  oats  are 
those  mostly  handled  for  city  consumption,  oats  in  the  whole  grain  for  horses  and 
wheat  in  the  form  of  flour  for  human  consumption. 

The  manufacture  of  flour  has  come  to  be  largely  controlled  by  several  large 
combinations  of  flour  mills  advantageously  located  along  the  routes  from  the  wheat 
producing  districts  to  the  consuming  districts. 

At  the  points  where  these  large  flour  mills  are  located  grain,  shipped  as  such 
from  the  elevators  nearer  the  wheat  fields  to  a  final  destination  in  some  consuming 
or  exporting  center,  may,  by  a  very  special  arrangement  made  by  these  mills  with 
the  railroads,  be  stopped  at  the  mills,  ground  into  flour,  and  continue  to  its  destination 
as  flour,  although  only  paying  a  through  rate  as  grain.  This  special  privilege,  known 
as  "milling-in-transit,"  is,  of  course,  a  rebate  of  very  great  advantage  to  the  places 
which  have  it,  for  the  through  grain  rate  is  always  much  less  than  the  sum  of  the 
grain  rates  which  together  would  cover  the  same  distance,  and  the  rate  on  grain 
is  less  than  the  rate  on  flour. 

In  this  business  New  York  City  at  the  present  time  occupies  a  position  of  com- 
parative insignificance. 

Meat. — Of  the  various  animals  used  as  a  source  of  the  meat  supply  some  have 
been  already  used  to  give  rise  to  other  crops  and  are  only  slaughtered  at  that  point 
of  their  existence  when  the  aggregate  profits  of  the  crops  which  fhey  produce,  which 
is  probably  still  increasing,  combined  with  the  aggregate  profit  on  their  increase  of 
weight,  which  is  diminishing  because  the  quality  grows  poorer  with  age,  is  a  maximum. 

Others  are  grown  expressly  for  slaughtering;  still  others  are  produced  only  as 
an  unavoidable  step  in  the  production  of  this  other  crop ;  still  others  are  wild 
animals. 

The  perishability  of  the  crop  produced  by  the  animals  tends  to  determine  the 
locality  in  which  the  animals  are  grown. 

Thus  beef  cattle  of  the  large  herds  used  to  supply  New  York  City  with  milk 
have  to  be  within  milk  haulage  distances  of  the  city,  while  fowl  and  sheep  are  not 
specially  limited  by  their  eggs  or  wool. 

Those  raised  expressly  for  slaughtering  are  apt  to  be  raised  where  markets  are 
not  convenient  for  those  other  than  forage  crops  to  which  the  district  is  suited. 
Thus  hogs  are  raised  extensively  in  the  corn  belt. 

In  general  the  animal  which  is  a  big  producer  of  a  crop  has  not  the  form  and 
quality  which  make  it  the  best  meat.  Also  this  economic  slaughtering  age  is  con- 
siderably past  the  time  when  the  animal's  meat  is  at  its  best. 

For  these  reasons  animals  grown  expressly  for  meat  almost  always  produce 
better  meat. 

Grass-fed  horned  cattle  from  the  western  ranges  have  largely  disappeared  from 
the  market  and  no  extensive  move  to  replace  the  deficiency  by  other  cattle  grown 
expressly  for  meat  has  yet  developed.  Consequently  the  supply  is  largely  from  milk 
kine,  often  much  beyond  the  economic  age,  and  fattened  up  to  kill.  Cattle  which  will 
make  good  tender  beef  are  harder  to  get,  and  the  price  of  beef  has  consequently 
risen  higher  than  the  influence  of  the  increased  cost  of  all  feed  on  animals  would 
otherwise  justify. 

In  the  milk  districts,  calves  not  being  felt  to  be  very  profitable,  are  commonly 
killed  at  as  early  an  age  as  will  permit  their  flesh  to  be  used  and  often  earlier. 

For  this  reason  the  outlook  for  an  early  improvement  of  the  beef  situation  is  not 
good.    The  point  is  rapidly  being  neared,  however,  when  it  will  pay  to  raise  for 


159 


slaughter  horned  cattle  having  shape  and  weight  assuming  characteristics  which 
will  make  them  ready  to  market  at  an  early  age. 

What  has  been  said  of  cows  can  similarly  be  said  of  chickens.  Ducks  and 
geese  are  generally  raised  expressly  to  kill. 

Swine  and  sheep  have  increased  in  price  but  somewhat  more  nearly  in  proportion 
to  the  advance  on  the  costs  of  all  feed. 

The  killing,  dressing,  and  wholesale  marketing  of  animals,  except  fowl,  have 
largely  gotten  into  the  hands  of  a  few  large  concerns.  These  collect  animals  to 
some  convenient  central  point  and  there  kill  and  dress  in  very  large  quantities,  econo- 
mizing in  all  ways  on  labor  and  letting  nothing  go  to  waste.  They  often  own  the 
refrigerator  cars  in  which  the  carcasses  are  shipped  to  their  branch  houses  in  the 
various  markets  for  sale. 

Of  sheep  and  swine  they  can  generally  furnish  sufficient  prime  meat,  but  of 
beef  the  demand  exceeds  the  supply. 

The  producing  area  by  which  New  York  City  is  served  is  very  widespread  when 
all  foodstuffs  are  considered. 

For  instance,  wheat  and  oats  from  Texas,  British  Columbia,  and  Canada,  Mon- 
tane, and  some  from  the  Eastern  States;  potatoes  from  Bermuda,  the  Gulf  States, 
the  Eastern  States,  including  Maine  and  Nova  Scotia,  and,  in  time  of  shortage,  from 
abroad;  apples,  from  Oregon,  Washington,  Missouri,  California,  the  Great  Lakes' 
district.  Nova  Scotia,  and  the  whole  eastern  seaboard;  peaches,  grapes,  and  other 
deciduous  fruits,  from  Georgia,  Maryland,  Delaware,  California,  the  Great  Lakes 
district.  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Connecticut;  citrous  fruits  from  Florida,  Cuba, 
Porta  Rico,  California;  vegetables  of  all  sorts  from  the  Gulf  States,  Florida  to 
Texas,  North  Carolina. 

Favoring  soils  and  climates,  the  development  of  special  crop  districts,  and,  in  the 
case  of  the  Southern  States,  the  ability  to  secure  plentiful  labor  at  very  low  prices 
and  cheap  transportation  have  combined  to  extend  the  limits  of  the  producing  area 
and  this  tendency  has  been  carefully  fostered  by  the  big  transportation  companies, 
who  are  desirous  of  this  lucrative  long  haul  business. 

It  would  be  natural  to  expect  that,  where  climate  and  soil  made  it  possible,  the 
"most  perishable"  crops  would  be  produced  nearest  to  the  consuming  center. 
Around  New  York  City  this  used  to  be  so,  but  with  the  increasing  difficulty  of 
securing  efficient  farm  help,  except,  at  prohibitive  prices,  with  the  increase  in  value 
of  land,  with  the  subdivision  of  farms  into  city  lots  and  suburban  plots  within 
teaming  distances  of  the  market,  and  with  the  competition  of  stuff  from  the  South, 
this  has  grown  less  profitable  for  the  former  American  truck  farmer.  Where  he 
has  been  supplanted  at  all  it  has  generally  been  by  some  foreigner,  who,  with  a 
large  working  family  and  with  ability  to  secure  the  services  of  some  of  his  more 
recently  immigrated  countrymen,  can  profitably  give  the  ground  intensive  cultivation. 

Nevertheless  there  are  large  areas  of  good  farming  land  lying  entirely  idle  within 
hauling  distances  of  the  city  markets;  and  other  large  areas  are  devoted  to  "perish- 
able" or  "non-perishable"  crops,  rather  than  to  "most  perishable." 

These  lands  are  possibilities  which  may  at  any  time  come  into  use,  and  when  they 
do  their  crops  will  add  materially  to  the  present  bulk  of  the  vehicular  market  traffic 

The  quantity  of  any  generally  desirable  article  which  the  population  of  a  place 
will  consume  depends  very  largely  upon  the  price  at  which  a  desirable  quality  can 
be  bought.  Low  prices  stimulate  consumption,  but  only  of  the  pleasant  or  generally 
desirable  articles.  No  matter  how  low  the  prices  of  turnips  became,  the  human  con- 
sumption thereof  would  not  be  increased  more  than  a  small  amount,  unless  other 
foodstuffs  became  prohibitively  high  priced,  not  relatively,  but  absolutely. 

But  an  overproduction  or  an  oversupply  to  a  market  docs  not  mean  a  stimulated 
demand  because  the  retailers  do  not  permit  the  low  prices  to  reach  the  consumers. 


160 


Consumers  can  read  and  can  hear  of  apples  rotting  in  the  orchards  within  a  few 
miles  of  market,  because  the  market  price  will  not  pay  the  expenses  of  barreling 
and  shipping;  can  see  market  quotations  of  apples  at  $1.50  to  $2.00  per  barrel, 
onions  at  50  cents  to  60  cents  per  bushel,  etc.,  etc.,  but,  nevertheless,  the  retail  price 
of  either  stays  at  from  10  cents  to  15  cents  per  quart  until  the  consumers  finally 
come  to  feel  that  they  are  all  under  some  horrible  spell  which  keeps  them  per- 
manently separated  from  the  bounty  of  the  earth. 

If,  then,  man  is  foolish  enough  to  plant  too  much  of  a  certain  foodstuff  of  which 
nature  is  overbountiful,  what  becomes  of  the  oversupply? 

If  it  is  available  for  conversion  profitably  into  other  forms  of  saleable  goods  and 
the  means  for  such  conversion  are  available,  a  considerable  part  of  it  is  so  converted. 
If  not,  it  may  be  put  to  debased  uses  or  else  merely  allowed  to  waste.  The  wise  pro- 
ducer will  not  expend  the  costs  of  packing  and  shipping  on  goods  for  a  glutted 
market.  He  keeps  them  under  his  immediate  control  and,  if  they  rot,  their  remains 
are  of  some  little  value  to  him  as  fertilizer.  When  a  market  gets  glutted  to  the 
point  that  commission  men  and  other  receivers  have  no  place  to  store  the  excess 
of  receipts  over  sales,  so  that  they  no  longer  remove  these  goods  from  the  railroads 
and  other  transportation  companies,  in  self-preservation  the  transportation  companies 
have  to  discontinue  the  movement  into  their  termini  of  these  goods. 

A  bumper  crop  thus  often  means  additional  fertility  drawn  from  the  producer's 
soil,  additional  labor  in  cultivating  and  harvesting,  additional  expense  in  transporta- 
tion and  very  often  not  as  much  gross  returns  as  from  a  smaller  crop. 

Many  of  the  shrewder  agriculturists  sense  this  and  begin  to  decry  the  efforts 
made  by  agricultural  educational  institutions  in  favor  of  increased  yields  per  acre. 

The  Consumer. — Consumers  are  not  necessarily  the  extremes  of  short-sightedness, 
illogicality,  and  waste  which  some  would  have  them  thought. 

There  is  a  reason  for  many,  if  not  most,  of  their  ways  of  marketing,  and,  until 
these  reasons  change,  their  purchasing  methods  will  probably  remain  the  same. 

All  but  a  very  few  people  desire  to  live  comfortably  and  to  give,  as  is  wise,  the 
most  of  their  care  and  attention  to  the  things  which  are  of  most  importance  to  them. 
They  do  not  desire  to  spend  more  time  or  effort  on  details  than  is  warranted  by  the 
relative  importance  to  them  of  such  details  and  also  by  the  apparent  possibility  of 
easily  effecting  a  change  therein  to  their  benefit.  Where  they  cannot  gain  they  desire 
freedom  to  enjoy. 

Most  people  are  overrun  with  demands  upon  their  attention,  time,  and  money, 
each  demand  coupled  with  its  promise  of  gain  or  saving  of  some  sort.  In  these 
some  truth  is  apt  to  be  strangely  mixed  with  much  fiction,  and  the  means  for 
separating  the  false  from  the  good  are  not  available  to  most  people.  Very  often  the 
amount  which  apparently  could  be  jgained  or  saved  is  not  sufficient  to  warrant  the 
diversion  of  the  required  attention  and  energy  from  the  main  income  producing 
source  of  the  individual.  Also  there  is  a  very  prevalent  skepticism  born  of  past 
bad  experience  as  to  the  active  and  unperverted  continuance  of  any  movement  for 
the  benefit  of  the  public. 

Taken  together  these  reasons  perhaps  explain  consideraI)Ic  part  of  the  inertia  of 
the  populace  toward  proposed  methods  of  improving  known  bad  conditions. 

For  the  vast  majority  of  people  it  is  necessary  that  their  incomes  shall,  on  the 
average,  at  least  equal  their  expenses.  Their  ways  of  accomplishing  this  desirable 
result  differentiate  people  into  two  kinds,  whose  attitude  toward  marketing  will  be 
quite  different. 

First,  Those  people  who,  to  keep  their  incomes  at  least  equal  to  their  expendi- 
tures, concentrate  their  energies  upon  increasing  their  incomes  and  pay  little  attention 
to  the  savings  which  might  be  effected  by  economy. 

Second,  Those  people  who,  having  less  opportunity  to  increase  their  incomes,  seek 


161 


to  keep  the  balance  in  the  face  of  some  perhaps  unavoidably  increased  expenses  by 
the  reduction  of  other  expenses. 

These  two  kinds  of  people  are  not  clearly  separated  by  the  amounts  of  wealth 
possessed;  or  by  the  size  of  income  or  even  by  the  character  of  neighborhood  in- 
habited.   Nationality  and  previous  training  do  make  for  a  distinction. 

Those  of  the  first  kind  commonly  feel  that  the  element  of  chance  plays  a  very 
important  part  in  this  matter  of  increase  of  income.  And  chance  is  often  believed 
to  be  specially  favorably  inclined  toward  those  who  spend  most  lavishly  and  osten- 
tatiously. Consequently  these  people  are  generally  not  close  buyers  and  are  gen- 
erally, if  not  indifferent  to  the  costs  of  living,  at  least  not  liable  to  be  actively 
interested  in  movements  for  the  reduction  of  these  costs. 

Economies,  then,  are  especially  interesting  only  to  those  who  have  not  so  much 
chance  of  increasing  their  incomes  rapidly;  and  these,  the  people  of  the  second  kind, 
as  above  differentiated,  are  the  ones  from  whom  the  steady  and  loyal  support  of  a 
program  for  the  reduction  of  useless  marketing  costs  must  come. 

But,  while  those  of  the  first  kind  cannot  be  depended  upon  for  steady  support,  they, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  second  kind,  may  flash  into  anger  over  some  plainly  evident 
increase  in  foodstuff  prices. 

People  have  mental  standards  of  what  things  should  cost — impressions  gained 
mostly  long  ago  and  modified  slowly  and,  usually,  very  unwillingly,  unless  under 
complete  change  of  environment.  When  these  personal  mental  price  standards  for 
any  commodity  whatever  are  grossly  exceeded  in  general,  anger  and  antagonism 
result,  and  each  new  advance  provokes  new  indignation.  This  occurs  just  the  same 
whether  the  additional  cost  is  merely  to  be  transmitted  to  others  or  whether  it 
causes  personal  loss.  A  principle  is  felt  to  have  been  violated — things  should  not 
cost  such  a  price. 

With  people  of  the  second  kind  every  new  increase  in  living  costs  usually  means 
either  a  reduction  in  the  moneys  available  for  pleasure  and  for  savings  or  else  a 
lowering  of  the  plane  of  living. 

Since  the  physical  and  mental  vigor  of  a  people  are  so  directly  dependent  upon 
the  wholesomeness  of  their  food  it  is  tremendously  important  that  the  costs  of 
food  should  be  kept  from  rising — so  far  as  the  elimination  of  needless  expenses 
and  uncertainties  in  marketing  will  do  this. 

With  the  increase  of  population  in  and  about  this  city  opportunities  for  such 
increases  of  income  as  will  permit  disregard  of  economies  become  less  frequent,  and 
the  people  of  the  second  kind  are  increasing  the  numerical  majority  which  they  have 
always  had  in  the  city's  population. 

Of  the  total  expenditures  for  every  reason  of  a  household  the  first  cost  of  the 
foodstuffs  forms  a  considerable  proportion,  varying  from  perhaps  somewhat  over  one- 
half  in  the  case  of  the  very  poor  to  possibly  one-sixth  in  the  case  of  the  fairly  well 
to  do. 

To  the  bulk  of  the  people  of  the  second  kind,  then,  the  cost  of  foodstuffs  is  of 
relatively  more  importance  than  to  those  of  the  first  kind;  and  the  time  of  the 
person  who  does  the  buying  is  also  apt  to  be  considered  not  so  valuable. 

Those  of  the  second  kind,  then,  are  the  people  who  "shop"  for  low  prices. 

The  bulk  of  the  buying  for  home  consumption  is  done  by  the  women;  and  their 
training  has  not  always  been  such  as  to  make  them  extremely  analytical  of  the  causes 
of  final  total  costs. 

When,  therefore,  a  woman,  especially  one  of  the  first  kind,  finds  her  neighbor 
receiving  from  a  retailer  favors,  such  as  specially  quick  delivery  of  a  small  order  or 
long  credit  or  gifts  at  certain  seasons,  etc.,  she  is  apt  in  a  desire  for  equal  treat- 
ment to  require  the  same  quite  oblivious  of  the  increase  of  costs  which  must  follow 
the  general  adoption  of  such  requirements. 


162 


Of  many  things  the  consumer  must  buy  in  small  quantity  at  a  time,  because  of 
the  lack  of  proper  storage  space  and  often  because  of  lack  at  any  one  time  of  a 
sufficient  accumulation  of  money  or  credit  to  invest  in  a  large  quantity. 

This  small  buying,  while  of  itself  wasteful,  is,  from  other  viewpoints,  advantage- 
ous. 

1st.  Because  foodstuffs  require  considerable  care  and  effort  to  prevent  their 
spoiling,  even  when  kept  under  good  storage  conditions. 

2d.  Because  in  an  ordinary  household,  when  a  large  stock  of  any  article  is  on 
hand,  the  consumption  of  that  article  is  greatly  increased  without  a  corresponding 
decrease  in  the  consumption  of  other  foodstuffs.  The  mere  presence  of  quantity 
provokes  increased  consumption. 

People  of  the  second  kind  are  again  divisible  into  two  sorts — those  who  exercise 
foresight  by  buying  in  advance  of  needs,  by  buying  in  quantity,  or  by  buying  co- 
operatively; and  those  who  buy  only  when  and  as  the  necessity  demands,  making 
perhaps  as  good  a  bargain  as  can  be  made  in  the  neighborhood  at  that  time.  These 
latter  are  generally  necessarily  local  buyers,  for  the  sake  of  economy  of  time,  car 
fare,  and  'phone  expense. 

Purchasers  who  pay  cash  can,  of  course,  buy  anywhere,  but  there  is  very  often 
a  distinctly  inferior  treatment  accorded  to  the  cash  customer,  manifesting  itself  in 
a  less  courteous  tone  in  the  store,  in  slower  delivery  service,  and  in  a  less  obliging 
attitude  toward  rectification  of  errors  or  misunderstandings. 

This  is  all  perfectly  logical  from  the  retailer's  point  of  view. 

Also,  where  goods  are  sent  C.  O.  D.,  either  the  purchaser  or  some  obliging 
neighbor  must  be  at  home  to  pay  for  the  goods  whenever  they  come. 

For  all  these  reasons  many  of  even  those  who  would  otherwise  prefer  to  pay 
cash  buy  on  credit. 

The  consumer  commonly  does  not  bargain,  but  buys  at  the  price  set  or  else 
leaves  it.  Even  those  people  of  Oriental  extraction,  who  are  naturally  bargainers, 
after  residing  here  a  while  acquiesce  in  this  fixed  price  custom. 

In  all  buying  a  knowledge  of  the  goods  and  of  the  day  is  essential  to  economical 
buying. 

At  the  same  time  in  different  stores  in  the  same  neighborhood  prices  vary  on  the 
identical  article.  The  variation,  while  only  perhaps  a  cent  or  a  few  cents,  is  quite 
a  large  percentage  of  the  cost.  Some  stores  in  the  same  locality,  because  of  a 
difference  in  general  appearance,  cleanliness,  courtesy,  convenience  of  location,  etc., 
and  sometimes  better  quality  of  goods,  secure  the  trade  of  those  of  the  neighbor- 
hood with  whom  these  things  outweigh  consideration  of  price,  and  these  stores 
generally  charge  a  somewhat  higher  scale  of  prices  throughout. 

However,  in  any  one  grade  of  store  in  the  neighborhood  prices  are  apt  to  be  so 
adjusted  that,  for  the  goods  commonly  bought  at  one  time  by  a  consumer,  the 
total  price  will  appear  to  average  about  the  same. 

Careful  buyers  get  to  know  that  certain  retailers  are  invariably  high  priced 
on  certain  goods  and  low  priced  perhaps  on  others,  and  they  govern  their  pur- 
chasing accordingly. 

Cash  buyers  prefer,  of  course,  to  shop  where  stores  are  plentiful  and  close 
together.  They  seem  to  be  willing  to  walk  four  or  five  blocks  and  consequently  in 
thickly  settled  districts  a  business  or  shopping  street  is  found  within  this  distance  of 
most  points.  In  each  large  district  some  portion  of  one  of  these  business  streets, 
due  generally  to  some  concentration  of  traffic  facilities,  becomes  an  important 
shopping  center. 

At  each  of  these  centers  there  are  generally  found  large  cash  stores  who  handle 
the  less  perishable  foodstuffs,  and  often  cold  storage  stuffs  as  well,  in  greater 
variety  and  generally  at  lower  prices  than  can  be  gotten  in  the  local  stores.  They 


163 


usually  secure  considerably  larger  single  orders  than  do  the  local  stores  because 
of  their  generally  lower  prices,  which  are  often  still  further  reduced  for  purchases 
in  quantity,  and  also  because  their  customers  are  drawn  largely  from  either  the  large 
consumers  or  the  more  foresighted  ones  of  the  population  who  have  visited  this 
center  to  purchase  materials  other  than  foodstuffs. 

Qeanliness  in  the  handling  of  foodstuffs  is  very  frequently  a  determining  cause  • 
with  consumers  as  to  where  they  will  trade,  as  in  lesser  degree  are  also  courtesy  and 
promptness. 

From  the  foregoing  it  may  be  seen  that  the  price  of  goods  is  only  one  of  several 
considerations  affecting  their  sale,  and  that  the  various  considerations  have  quite 
different  degrees  of  importance  to  these  different  kinds  and  sorts  of  people. 

Even  those  who  must  pay  considerable  attention  to  price  become  relatively  apathetic 
when  the  purchase  is  of  some  not  very  expensive  article,  a  little  of  which  lasts  them 
a  long  time. 

So  that  the  main  savings  to  the  people  would  naturally  be  on  the  foodstuffs 
which  are  consumed  by  the  individual  in  considerable  quantity. 

The  consumer  seems  decidedly  to  prefer  goods  which  have  not  been  handled 
or  exposed  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  their  cleanliness  uncertain;  especially  in  such 
goods  as  can  not  be  again  cleansed  before  consumption.  These,  except  when  bought 
in  places  whose  cleanliness  is  plainly  apparent,  are  preferred  when  already  put  up 
in  packages  under  assured  sanitary  conditions,  even  though  these  cost  more. 

Consumers  are  frequently  led  by  skillfully  planned  and  unstintedly  conducted 
advertising  campaigns  to  try  and  sometimes  to  continue  to  use  various  foodstuffs, 
generally  of  a  specially  prepared  form.  Early  training,  the  advice  of  some  of 
the  medical  profession,  and  the  results  of  not  unfavorable  experience  may  combine 
with  continuous  advertising  cunningly  devised  to  cause  people  to  continue  to  use 
some  of  these  proprietary  foodstuffs.  But  in  general  an  advertising  campaign  only 
secures  for  an  article  a  trial  and,  if  not  found  especially  pleasing  in  all  respects,  it 
is  apt  to  be  succeeded  by  the  next  strongly  advertised  article  for  the  same  purpose. 

As  pointed  out  under  the  heading  of  Foodstuffs  in  General  very  considerable 
reductions  in  the  price  of  stuffs  can  be  effected  by  that  elimination  of  selling  and 
advertising  expense  which  can  be  made  possible  by  a  proper  basis  of  comparison 
in  a  popularly  understandable  and  available  form. 

Premiums. — As  between  two  makes  of  goods  of  nearly  or  quite  equal  merit 
from  the  consumer's  standpoint  and  of  nearly  or  quite  equal  price,  a  gift  or 
premium  given  with  one  is  commonly  sufficient  reason  for  deciding  thereon,  while, 
if  the  actual  value  of  the  premium  given  was  deducted  from  the  price,  it  probably 
would  not  cause  a  sufficient  price  difference  to  influence  the  decision.  Premiums 
have  taken  very  many  different  forms,  and  may  perhaps  be  justified  where  trade 
agreements  or  reasons  of  expediency  forbid  the  cutting  of  cash  prices.  In  any 
case,  however,  they  merely  serve  to  befog  what  should  be  a  clearly  evident 
relation  between  price  paid  and  value  received. 

Cooperative  Buying. — Perhaps  the  earliest  form  of  cooperation  has  been  where 
a  number  of  neighbors  have  combined  in  the  purchase  of  some  one  article  desired 
by  each  in  sufficient  quantity  to  make  economy  in  buying  of  importance,  and  which 
could  be  bought  to  better  advantage  in  large  quantity. 

Among  fair  minded  people  who  know  the  amount  of  effort  actually  required 
to  purchase,  properly  apportion,  collect  the  payment  money  from  each  of  the  co- 
operators  and  settle  the  account,  and  know  further  what  is  a  fair  compensation 
therefor,  this  type  of  cooperation  works  satisfactorily;  elsewhere  not  always  so. 

Consumers  have  a  diversity  of  tastes  and  of  ideas  of  proper  prices,  and  there  is 
a  diversity  of  modifications  and  grades  of  each  of  the  various  foodstuffs  to  meet 
these  tastes  and  price  ideas. 


164 


No  single  store,  not  even  the  largest,  attempts  to  carry  all  of  the  modifications 
of  each  article  which  aie  on  the  market.  If  the  consumer  is  not  suited  with  what 
the  store  has  and  is  not  willing  to  be  convinced  that  something  in  stock  will  per- 
haps serve  as  well  as  the  modification  desired,  or  that  the  desired  modification  is  no 
longer  procurable,  the  would-be  purchaser  may  try  elsewhere. 

In  that  simple  form  of  cooperative  buying  wherein  orders  for  non-perisha1)le 
goods  are  solicited,  the  goods  bought  and  delivered,  the  moneys  collected,  and  the 
bills  paid  in  general  only  a  few  modifications  or  grades  of  each  article  are  possible, 
if  the  quantities  of  each  are  to  be  sufficient  to  make  up  a  wholesale  order. 

This  curtailment  of  choice,  in  addition  to  all  those  other  factors  which  generally 
influence  consumers  to  buy  in  small  quantities,  has  in  some  cases  proved  sufficient 
to  overbalance  the  advantages  derived,  and  has  finally  caused  the  abandonment  of 
the  projects. 

The  type  of  cooperative  buying  for  small  wants  which  has  proved  most  suc- 
cessful will  be  described  under  The  Retailer,  as  it  is  really  a  cooperative  store. 

As  is  to  be  expected,  the  native  American  is  more  given  to  trying  to  advance 
himself  materially  by  watching  for  his  opportunity  than  by  saving  on  his  ex- 
penses; and  the  foreign  born,  especially  from  those  countries  where  cooperative 
stores  are  vast  and  successful  businesses,  and  where  people  are  used  to  close  living, 
is  more  given  to  cooperation. 

In  general  people  of  the  first  kind  do  not  cooperate  well;  those  of  the  second 
kind,  when  the  advantages  and  the  possibilities  of  success  are  brought  plainly  to 
their  minds,  have  a  tendency  to  cooperate. 

The  consumer  does  not  know  the  costs  of  the  various  operations  of  retailing. 
He  or  she  does  not  know  how  much  could  be  saved  if  the  order  were  delivered  at 
the  store  instead  of  to  a  clerk  sent  around  to  collect  orders;  if  the  goods  be  pur- 
chased in  quantity  instead  of  a  small  amount  of  each;  if  the  whole  order  at  one 
time  be  large  instead  of  small;  if  the  goods  be  by  him  or  her  carried  home  instead 
of  delivered  by  the  retailer's  wagon;  if  cash  or  prompt  short  credit  be  used  instead 
of  long  credit;  nor  does  he  or  she  care  much  at  the  present  time. 

It  would  be  a  very  exceptional  retailer  who  knew  the  costs  of  these  details  himself 
and  a  still  more  exceptional  one  who,  knowing,  would  permit  his  customers  to  know 
or  to  benefit  in  anything  like  direct  proportion  to  the  savings  they  actually  made. 

The  consumer  knows  almost  nothing  with  a  knowledge  as  well  founded  as  has  the 
cattle  raiser,  of  the  qualities  and  feeding  value  of  liis  human  foodstuffs.  He  or 
she  is  swayed  by  customs ;  by  tastes,  which  may  be  natural  or  may  be  grossly  per- 
verted; by  prejudices  skillfully  created  and  carefully  maintained  by  those  who  benefit, 
not  by  foodstuffs  in  their  natural  condition,  but  by  proprietary  preparations  and 
modifications  thereof. 

These  things  are  part  of  the  marketing  and  provisioning  problem  mainly  because 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  public  to-day  evinces  a  desire  for  more  education 
along  these  lines  and  with  the  better  knowledge  there  will  tend  to  come  con- 
siderable changes  in  foodstuffs,  their  preparations,  and  marketing. 

Foodstuffs  in  General. — The  statistics  of  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  show  that, 
while  there  has  been  a  small  increase  (9.9  per  cent.)  during  the  past  ten  years  in 
the  acreage  under  cultivation  throughout  the  United  States,  the  increase  in  the  value 
of  the  farm  products  has  been  very  much  greater  (83  per  cent  ).  And,  furtlier,  that 
the  increase  in  acreage  (9.9  per  cent.)  is  not  as  great  as  the  increase  in  population 
(21  per  cent.). 

This  increase  in  value  is  mostly  due  to  an  increase  in  prices  of  66  per  cent. 
It  is  to  be  expected,  therefore,  that  the  producers'  selling  prices  for  foodstuffs  will 
for  some  time  to  come  tend  to  continue  to  increase. 

Part  of  this  increase  in  the  prices  of  farm  products  may  be  due  to  the  relation 


165 


of  demand  to  supply;  part  to  the  higher  cost  and  scarcity  at  any  price  of  farm 
labor,  but  undoubtedly  a  considerable  part  of  it  is  due  to  that  change  which  is  re- 
placing the  old  type  of  hardworking,  self-sacrificing,  unrewarded  farmer  by  the 
modern  business  farmer,  who  realizes  the  strength  of  his  position  and  insists  upon  a 
profit  from  his  labors. 

Competition  for  a  livelihood  among  the  workers  of  the  big  cities  becomes 
keener  and  still  keener  as  time  goes  on.  If  this  competition  is  not  to  take  the 
disastrous  course  which  it  has  so  largely  taken  in  England  during  the  past  many 
years  of  robbing  the  workers  of  their  vitality  and  energy,  foodstuffs  of  quality 
to  enable  the  workers  not  only  to  hold  their  own,  but  to  advance  by  increasing  their 
abilities,  must  be  provided  at  prices  which  they  can  afford. 

The  foodstuffs  (whether  meats,  fish,  milk,  fruit,  vegetables  or  cereals)  should  be 
free  from  those  diseases  harmful  to  man's  efficiency  to  which  each  is  subject,  and  the 
quality,  as  regards  tenderness  and  digestibility,  should  be  adapted  to  the  individual 
as  governed  by  the  activity  of  his  or  her  occupation  and  way  of  living. 

The  occupations  and  the  ways  of  living  of  the  majority  of  city  workers  are  in- 
creasingly sedentary,  due  to  the  more  widespread  adoption  of  labor  saving  devices 
of  many  kinds.  Thus  not  only  clerks  and  many  others  commonly  considered  as 
leading  sedentary  lives,  but  many  factory  and  shop  workers,  whose  physical  labors 
have  been  purposely  so  restricted  that  they  do  little  more  than  watch  or  feed 
machines,  are  really  leading  inactive  lives.  As  a  matter  of  well  established  fact,  the 
average  individual,  when  using  all  parts  of  his  body  actively  under  good  con- 
ditions of  air  and  light,  is  able  to  extract  the  nutrition  necessary  to  his  upkeep 
and  growth  from  coarser,  tougher,  less  highly  organized,  and,  therefore,  cheaper 
foodstuffs  than  can  the  average  individual  when  not  so  healthily  occupied. 

For  these  reasons  the  foodstuffs  used  by  the  city  dweller  should  be  of  increasingly 
good  quality. 

The  individual  purchaser  can  only  protect  himself  to '  the  extent  of  refusing  to 
buy  the  unsuitable.  The  exercise  of  the  firmness  to  do  even  this,  requires  a  degree  of 
knowledge  of  the  quality  of  food  and  its  effects  not  too  general  among  city  dwellers. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  poorest  of  the  workers — those  who  most  need  physical 
and  mental  upbuilding  to  help  them  to  improve  their  own  conditions — are  precisely 
the  ones  who  are  tempted  the  most  by  low  prices  to  buy  the  poorest  quality  of 
foodstuffs. 

It  is  also  unfortunately  the  fact  that  foodstuffs  which,  because  of  poor  quality,  can 
be  bought  cheaply  by  the  retailer  will,  to  a  very  considerable  extent,  except  in 
the  fancy  trade,  replace  better  grades  of  the  same  stuffs  if  the  poor  grades 
are  in  plentiful  supply.  Thus,  while  they  are  available,  windfalls  will  often  keep 
hand-picked  apples  off  of  the  grocers'  stands  completely.  Even  if  more  of  the 
healthy  apple  substance  (after  the  diseased  portions  were  removed)  could  be 
gotten  for  a  certain  price  in  windfalls  than  in  hand-picked  apples,  which  is  gen- 
erally not  the  case,  there  would  still  remain  the  constant  danger  to  the  health 
that  the  diseased  portions  may  not  be  removed'  by  the  consumer.  Bruised  spots  are 
not  necessarily  dangerous  if  properly  removed;  but  the  fungous  growths  which 
usually  develop  quickly  in  the  bruised  spots  and  the  chemical  substances  produced 
by  them  often  are. 

Instances  can  easily  be  multiplied  on  this  point. 
While,  from  some  points  of  view,  it  may  seem  that  the  control  of  the  food 
materials  should  be  left  to  a  single  inspection,  occurring  when  the  goods  are 
retailed,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  if  many  retailers  did  secure  supplies  of  such 
inferior  foods  they  would  manage  to  sell  them. 

For  these  reasons  it  seems  proper  that  an  adequate  inspection  and  control  should 


166 


be  exercised  after  the  arrival  of  the  goods  at  market  and  before  they  have  been 
put  on  sale  to  the  retailer. 

Staple  articles  of  different  origin  as  regards  production  or  manufacture  which, 
as  marketed,  are  easily  comparable,  are  generally  sold  at  low  prices,  largely  as  a 
result  of  such  easy  comparability  and  of  the  ease  of  selling  such  goods.  On  such 
goods  manufacturing  or  production  costs  are  kept  low,  advertising  expense  almost 
or  quite  eliminated,  and  a  smaller  margin  of  gross  profit  allowed  to  the  retailer. 
While  the  apparent  profit  is  less  the  actual  profit  is  often  as  much  as  on  some  of 
the  special  articles,  due  to  the  lesser  time  spent  in  selling  the  goods. 

Articles  not  so  comparable,  due  to  either  differences  in  the  quality,  flavor,  or,  very 
often,  only  in  the  package,  are  the  subjects  of  expensive  advertising,  tending  to 
create  prejudices  for  these  goods. 

Standards  which  would  portray  to  the  buying  public  the  actual  relative  values  of 
such  goods  would  certainly  relieve  the  public  from  the  necessity  of  individually 
guessing  at,  or  by  purchase  and  trial  arriving  at  in  a  very  rough  way,  a  judgment  as 
to  comparative  merits. 

The  study  of  a  foodstuff  sufficient  to  show  the  relative  value  thereof  in  a  practical 
and  easily  understandable  way  is,  properly,  work  for  an  expert  on  foods.  The 
cost  of  such  a  determination  would  be  greater  than  a  private  individual  would 
care  to  bear,  but,  if  the  results  were  published  so  as  to  be  available  to  the  general 
public,  the  per  capita  costs  would  be  almost  nothing,  and  the  per  capita  benefits  very 
considerable. 

Where  the  desirable  qualities  of  any  article,  even  if  known  in  their  relative 
importance,  are  difiicult  to  measure  accurately,  certain  qualities  which  are  more 
easy  to  compare  are  apt  to  be  impressed  upon  the  consumer  by  the  salesman  to  a 
degree  entirely  beyond  their  merits,  and  the  market  demand  created  in  this  way  reacts 
to  compel  the  producers  or  manufacturers  to  do  and  to  continue  to  do  what  they 
may  very  well  know  is  not  to  the  consumers'  best  interests,  or  sometimes  even  to  their 
own.  This  elevation  of  what  salesmen  call  a  "talking  point"  into  a  criterion  is  a 
natural  and  easy  result  of  the  consumers'  ever  present  desire  for  an  unfailing 
measure  of  quality,  which  can  be  easily  applied  on  the  spot  when  purchasing.  For 
instance,  how  many  consumers  know  the  various  qualities  that  flour  should  possess 
and  their  relative  importance?  But  all  can  tell  whether  it  is  clear  white  or  has 
specks  in  it.  And  as  a  consequence  flour  is  made  white  no  matter  what  other  of 
its  qualities  suffer.  How  many  can  tell  by  inspection  the  different  varieties  of  as- 
paragus and  know  the  qualities  of  each?  But  all  can  tell  whether  the  stalks  are 
white  or  green.  New  Yorkers  have  somehow  been  educated  to  refuse  the  green 
variety,  which  is  often  more  tender  and  has  often  a  larger  per  cent,  of  its  stalk  edible 
than  has  the  white.  Other  markets  insist  on  the  green  variety — and  so  on.  This 
ignorance  on  the  consumer's  part  is  very  costly,  for  often  the  buyer  has  no  criterion 
at  all  except  the  price,  and  when  in  doubt  buys  the  more  costly  on  the  assumption  that 
it  must  be  the  better. 

The  remedy  probably  lies  in  the  same  sort  of  public  information  already  found 
desirable  to  make  various  brands  of  foodstuffs  comparable. 

The  best  statistics  available  as  to  the  amounts  of  the  various  foodstuffs  consumed 
in  New  York  City  are  given  in  Table  No.  1  of  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on 
Markets,  Prices  and  Costs  of  the  New  York  State  Food  Investigating  Committee. 
According  to  this  $368,433,449  out  of  $644,683,449,  or  about  57  per  cent,  of  the  total 
amount,  was  spent  for  meat,  milk,  butter,  eggs,  poultry,  and  cheese. 

Figures  from  the  United  States  Census  Reports  for  1900  (which  alone  seem 
on  this  point  to  be  available)  show  the  annual  average  cost  of  food  for  a  working- 
man's  family  for  the  North  Atlantic  Division  as  $326.80,  of  which  $181.  or  5.S  per  cent., 


167 


was  spent  for  meats,  milk,  eggs,  and  other  animal  products,  thus  agreeing  with  the 
figures  of  Table  No.  1  quite  closely. 

Of  beef  and  other  meat  food  products  $176,000,000  approximately,  according  to 
Table  No.  1,  are  consumed  yearly  in  New  York  City.  This  includes  beef,  pork,  and 
mutton  as  its  main  items. 

Taking  as  an  example  beef :  On  the  hoof  at  New  York  this  sold  in  1912  for 
about  9.5  to  10  cents  per  pound.  As  meat  in  the  butcher  shops  in  New  York  City 
it  sold  at  an  average  for  about  20  cents  per  pound,  according  to  the  retail  prices  for 
1912,  published  by  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  it  becomes  desirable 
to  trace  the  very  considerable  difference  to  see  how  much  could  be  saved  by  better 
marketing  methods. 

A  beef  animal  weighing  1,080  pounds  alive  when  killed  and  dressed  will  weigh 
about  720  pounds  as  sold  to  the  retailer.  The  average  price  asked  wholesale  for 
this  meat  in  1912  was  about  12J4  cents  per  pound  for  the  whole  carcass  of  two  sides. 
Head,  feet,  and  hide  not  included.  This  applies  to  mature  beef,  not  to  calves,  which 
are  sold  differently. 

The  animal,  therefore,  cost  the  slaughterer  $102.60  and  for  the  meat  thereof, 
apart  from  the  heart  and  liver,  $90.60  was  paid  by  the  retailer.  The  360  pounds 
difference  in  weight  covers  the  head,  horns,  hide,  hoofs,  blood,  organs,  and  refuse. 
Apart  from  the  hide  the  most  of  this  is  of  low  value  per  pound  and  some  of  it  is 
good  only  for  fertilizer. 

This  carcass  divided  into  the  usual  cuts  will  yield  the  following  weight 


Round   170  lbs.  wholesales  at  .15  per  lb.,  retails  at  .24 

Flank   40  lbs.  sold  with  round 

Loin   120  lbs.  wholesales  at  .15  per  lb.,  retails  at  .253^ 

Rib   90  lbs.  wholesales  at  .15  per  lb.,  retails  at  .20  9-10 

Chuck   240  lbs.  wholesales  at  .10  per  lb.,  retails  at  .15^4 

Plate   60  lbs.  wholesales  at  .06  per  lb.,  retails  at  .12  (assumed) 


Included  in  these  and  paid  for  by  the  retailer  are  about  10  per  cent,  of  waste  in 
bones  and  fat,  which  cannot  be  sold  to  the  consumer.  For  the  bones  the  retailer 
gets  nothing,  for  the  fat  about  3  cents  per  pound. 

Making  allowances  for  these,  the  retailer  gets  for  this  carcass  a  total  of  about 
$130.  The  difference  between  this  and  the  $90.60  paid  for  the  carcass  is  about 
31  per  cent,  of  the  total  selling  price  to  consumer. 

As  has  been  shown  under  the  head  of  the  Retailer,  this  is  about  what  is  required 
in  a  medium  sized  butcher  shop  to  cover  expenses  and  a  small  profit. 

The  prices  made  use  of  were  for  prime  native  steer  beef,  about  3  to  4  years  old. 
Cows,  which  are  generally  6  to  8  years  old  when  killed,  sell  for  from  1  to  2  cents 
less  a  pound. 

The  exportation  of  beef  cattle  has  diminished  greatly,  but  the  production  still 
more  so,  there  being,  by  the  Orange  Judd  Census  1,800,000  less  cattle,  other  than 
milch  cows,  in  the  country  in  1912  than  in  1911.  It  is  to  be  expected,  therefore,  that 
the  prices  of  beef  will  continue  to  increase. 

Somewhat  similar  conditions  hold  for  pork  and  mutton,  the  1912  shortage  on 
hogs  being  about  5,000,000  head  and  for  sheep  2,373,000. 

The  marketing  of  meats,  apart  from  their  retailing,  is  quite  economically  man- 
aged. 

Milk. — Another  big  item  of  expense  for  foodstuffs  is  milk,  for  which  $64,000,000 
out  of  a  total  estimated  New  York  City  yearly  expenditure  of  $644,683,000  is  spent. 
Milk  is  marketed  peculiarly  well,  in  that  there  is,  for  the  most  of  it,  but  one 
middleman.  The  big  milk  companies  make  contracts  with  the  dairymen  to  deliver 
the  milk  at  the  railroad  stations,  and  cart  it  with  their  own  very  large  trucks  to 
their  distributing  depots  from  the  railroad  delivery  points  in  the  city. 


168 


Different  breeds  of  cows  produce  milk  of  different  richness,  that  is  to  say,  con- 
taining different  percentages  of  butter  fat.  Jerseys  produce  the  best  milk  and  the 
richest,  some  of  the  prize  Jerseys  yielding  not  over  19  quarts  of  milk  per  day,  which 
19  quarts  contain  1.9  pounds  of  butter  fat  (equal  to  4.6  per  cent.).  Holsteins  yield 
perhaps  the  most,  some  as  high  as  50  quarts  per  day,  which  50  quarts  contain  about 
3.8  pounds  butter. 

Holsteins  are  larger  animals  than  Jerseys  and  eat  more.  These  figures  are  from 
prize  producers,  not  from  ordinary  animals  and  these  are  maximum  daily  figures, 
not  averages  for  the  year.  The  average  daily  production  from  these  prize  pro- 
ducers would  be  about  seven-tenths  of  this,  and  the  amounts  consumed  by  the  calf 
would  make  a  material  further  reduction.  The  ordinary  cow  averages  5  to  12  quarts 
of  milk  per  day,  and  the  cost  of  feed  grown,  not  bought,  and  labor  is  variously 
stated  as  from  4.16  to  6  cents  per  quart.  (See  Farmers'  Bulletin  469,  U.  S.  Dept. 
Agri.    The  Cost  of  Market  Milks.) 

The  provisions  of  the  Sanitary  Code  of  the  City  of  New  York  do  not  permit 
milk  containing  less  than  3  per  cent,  of  butter  fats  to  be  sold,  except  as  skim  milk. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  above  mentioned  Holstein  milk  contains  about  3.8  per  cent, 
fats,  although  3.4  per  cent,  is  more  common. 

Milk  is  graded  "A,"  "B,"  or  "C,"  according  to  its  cleanliness  as  determined  by 
the  number  of  bacteria  in  a  cubic  centimeter  of  milk.  The  dairies  are  inspected  and 
the  requirements  of  the  Health  Department,  while  adding  to  the  cost  of  the  milk 
somewhat,  are  extremely  necessary  to  protect  the  consumers. 

The  exchange  rate  for  December,  1912,  was  4J^  cents  per  quart  for  grade  "B," 
4j4  cents  per  quart  for  grade  "C"  within  the  zone  wherein  the  railroad  freight  is 
26  cents  per  40-quart  can,  and  where  there  are  no  station  charges,  making  the  cost 
per  40-quart  can,  F.  O.  B.  N.  Y.  $2.11  for  grade  "B,"  and  $2  for  grade  "C." 

Grade  "B"  is  the  sort  of  milk  sold  in  bottles  to  consumers.  It  costs,  therefore 
about  5  3-10  cents  per  quart,  F.  O.  B.  railroad  New  York.  Figures  quoted  under 
the  Retailer  show  that  there  is  a  cost  of  about  2  cents  per  quart  for  delivery.  The 
1  7-10  cents  difference  between  the  sum  of  these  and  the  9  cents  per  quart  commonly 
charged  consumers  has  to  cover  the  costs  of  bottling ;  cleaning  and  breakage  of  bottles ; 
losses  of  milk  in  transit ;  haulage  from  depot ;  rent,  maintenance,  etc.,  of  milk  bottling 
plants ;  management  and  profits.  This  1  7-10  cents  is  19  per  cent,  on  the  selling 
price,  and  it  does  not  seem  at  all  excessive  to  cover  all  these  items.  At  these  prices 
the  producer  claims  not  to  be  receiving  enough  to  pay  him  any  profit  and  many 
dairymen  are  going  out  of  the  business.  The  price  to  the  dairyman  will  probably  have 
to  be  advanced  by  at  least  a  cent  a  quart  and  the  consumer  will  probably  have  to 
pay  the  difference.  Dipped  milk,  grade  "C,"  is  sold  from  stores,  to  be  carried  away 
by  the  consumer,  for  as  low  as  6  cents  per  quart.  This  is  possible  due  to  the 
elimination  of  the  delivery  and  bottling  expenses  and  still  leaves  the  retailer  almost 
enough  to  do  business  on.  At  such  prices  the  milk  is  used  as  a  "leader"  for  more 
profitable  goods. 

The  following  table  from  Michel's  "Market  Dairying"  gives  a  fairly  well  ac- 
cepted view  of  the  gross  returns  to  be  gotten  from  100  pounds  of  4  per  cent,  milk, 
disposed  of  in  the  ways  mentioned. 

$1.14  when  sold  as  cheese 
1.65  when  sold  as  butter 
2.03  when  sold  as  cream 
3.25  when  retailed  as  milk 
4.57  when  sold  as  ice-cream 

Eggs. — Eggs  are  produced  in  largest  quantity  in  the  spring,  and  in  least  quantity 
in  the  late  winter.    More  are,  of  course,  consumed  when  eggs  are  cheapest  in  the 


169 


spring,  but  many  consumers  are  quite  constant  in  their  demands  throughout  the 
year.  Means  are  necessary  not  only  to  store  enough  to  average  the  supply  so  far 
as  needed  and  under  proper  conditions,  but  also  to  give  the  producer  some  return  or 
loan  on  his  produce  until  it  is  sold  for  consumption.  At  present  these  means  are 
furnished  by  speculators  or  dealers,  who  have  in  most  cases  neither  the  cold  storage 
facilities  of  their  own  nor  sufficient  moneys  to  advance  on  the  eggs  that  they  buy. 
They  hire  the  cold  storage  facilities  and  borrow  the  money  from  the  banks,  all  but 
a  small  margin  which  they  have  to  risk  of  their  own  money  to  cover  variations  in 
market  prices. 

These  dealers  take  risk  and  worry;  they  also  labor  some  in  resorting  and  crating. 
They  serve  a  useful  purpose  as  markets  are  at  present  constituted,  but  this  same 
purpose  could  be  served  at  much  less  expense  by  a  market  so  organized  that  the 
producer  and  the  banks  could  get  together  directly  instead  of  through  the  speculator 
or  dealer.  If  proper  market  standards  were  made  publicly  available  aand  goods  were 
required  to  be  packed  in  accordance  with  these,  the  too  often  haphazard  or  dis- 
honest packing  of  the  producer  would  not  have  to  be  gone  over  again  by  the  dealer, 
thus  saving  the  cost  of  one  packing  and  of  many  attendant  losses  in  spoilage  and 
breakage. 

Eggs  at  present  are  packed  in  crates  containing  30  dozen  all  of  the  same  grade, 
and  there  are  at  least  20  different  grades  recognized  by  dealers,  although  the  con- 
sumers seldom  know  more  than  four — whites  and  browns,  strictly  fresh  and  storage. 

Because  of  the  weight  of  the  crate  necessary  to  stand  the  handling  received,  par- 
cels post  has  been  found  to  be  more  expensive  than  express,  and  because  few  con- 
sumers can  use  30  dozen  within  the  time  that  these  will  keep  fresh,  there  is  little 
marketing  direct  of  eggs  in  crate  lots. 

There  has  and  probably  always  will  be  a  rather  insignificant  number  marketed 
in  small  lots  to  city  consumers  directly. 

If  strictly  honest  producers  shipped  strictly  graded  eggs  by  express  to  one  of  a 
group  of  consumers  in  crates  already  internally  subdivided  into  packages  of,  say, 
5  dozen  eggs  each  and  guaranteed  their  goods  adequately,  it  is  possible  that  there 
might  some  benefit  result  to  both  consumer  and  producer. 

Fruits  and  vegetables  have  already  been  considered  in  a  general  way. 

Canning  and  Preserving. — Because  of  that  convenience  to  both  consumer  and 
retailer,  elsewhere  herein  pointed  out,  were  it  not  for  a  well-founded  skepticism  on 
the  part  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  consuming  public  as  to  the  healthfulness 
of  canned  goods,  there  would  probably  be  few  fresh  foodstuffs  of  a  "semi-perishable" 
or  "perishable"  nature  retailed. 

As  it  is,  the  sales  of  canned  goods  have  increased  to  enormous  proportions. 

The  methods  of  processing,  etc.,  are  in  general  not  controlled  by  patent  and,  as  a 
consequence,  all  sorts  of  people,  from  the  producer  who  runs  a  small  plant  for  his 
own  surplus  to  the  manufacturer  who  has  hundreds  of  employees,  puts  up  canned 
goods. 

To  secure  a  first-class  product  without  using  preservatives  it  is  necessary  to  have 
the  foodstuffs  which  are  to  be  canned  free  from  decay,  and  to  compete  with  other 
canners  it  is  necessary  to  have  low  labor  costs  and  other  expenses  low  as  well. 

Labor  costs  can  be  kept  low  either  by  hiring  cheap  labor  or  by  using  machinery 
or  other  labor-saving  devices.  But  machinery  to  be  most  profitable  requires  con- 
stant use;  and  this  it  is  impossible  to  get  with  perishable  foodstuffs  which  all  ripen 
during  a  short  season  in  the  year. 

Those  manufacturers  who  can  bottle  or  otherwise  preserve  and  market  cold 
storage  or  "non-perishable"  foodstuffs  work  under  a  condition  where  machinery 
helps  very  much.    They,  accordingly,  have  well-equipped  factories  and,  even  when 


170 


paying  their  help  fairly  decent  wages,  are  able  to  produce  their  product  at  fairly 
low  prices. 

Establishments  which  can  fruits  or  vegetables  of  a  "semi-perishable"  or  "perishable" 
sort  must,  in  general,  locate  in  a  producing  district;  must  make  contracts  in  advance 
for  their  supplies  of  the  raw  foodstuffs,  cannot  afford  to  employ  much  except  very 
simple  machinery,  and  have  to  hire  large  amounts  of  very  low  priced  labor,  which 
they  work  long  hours  and  for  a  short  season  in  the  year.  Their  locations  in  general 
give  them  advantage  for  all  of  these  things.  Keeping  in  mind  that  the  comfort-and- 
living-purchasing  value  of  a  dollar  varies  considerably  in  different  parts  of  this  coun- 
try and  that  in  few  places  has  a  dollar  less  purchasing  value  than  in  New  York  City, 
it  will  be  seen  that  New  York  City  is  a  poor  place  for  those  requiring  large  amounts 
of  cheap  labor  of  a  sort  easily  procurable  in  remote  districts. 

Against  all  these  disadvantages.  New  York  City  has  this  strong  advantage  to 
offer:  That,  as  its  markets  are  at  present  constituted,  there  are  available  for  canning 
purposes  the  surplus  "semi-perishable"  or  "perishable"  fruits  and  vegetables  from 
very  many  different  producing  districts,  which,  by  arriving  at  different  times,  give  a 
nearly  continuous  supply  of  work  so  that  labor-saving  machinery  and  skillful,  fairly 
paid  operators  are  warranted  and  are  used. 

It  seems,  therefore,  that  under  present  provisioning  arrangements  a  canning  factory 
as  a  means  of  absorbing  surplus  which  would  otherwise  go  to  waste  or  bring  very 
small  prices,  would  be  a  desirable  adjunct  to  a  market;  but  that  under  the  better 
ordered  provisioning  of  the  city's  markets  which  is  desired  it  seems  doubtful  that 
there  would  arrive  at  market  quantities  sufficiently  in  excess  of  what  the  market 
would  absorb  to  keep  a  canning  establishment  running  on  fresh  fruits  and  vegetables. 
And,  as  to  permitting  such  an  establishment  to  cull  over  and  can  the  better  portions 
of  foodstuffs  condemned  as  unfit  for  sale  because  of  their  stale  or  damaged  condi- 
tion, it  would  seem  to  be  offering  it  too  great  a  temptation  for  the  safety  of  the 
health  of  the  public. 

The  Retailer. — Practically  all  food  supplies  for  human  consumption  are  handled 
by  the  most  complete  retail  stores  of  either  one  of  two  classes — grocers  and  butchers. 
The  most  frequent  subdivisions  of  the  complete  grocery  business  are: 

The  dry  grocer,  retailing  everything  except  perishable  goods. 

The  green  grocer  or  vegetable  and  fruit  dealer. 

The  butter  and  egg  dealer. 

The  tea  and  coffee  dealer. 

The  dairy  product  or  milk  depot. 

But  the  complete  grocery  selling  all  articles  of  food  supply  except  fresh  meats 
and  fresh  fish  is  by  far  the  most  common. 

The  complete  butcher  business  retails  all  meats,  fresh  or  salt,  which  are  not 
canned,  and  all  sorts  of  fresh  fish  and  shellfish. 

It  is  sometimes  narrowed  down  to  the  selling  of  pork  and  pork  products  ex- 
clusively, and  sometimes  also  to  fish  of  all  sorts. 

There  are  various  combinations  of  grocer  and  butcher,  viz. : 

(a)  The  complete  market,  combining  the  functions  of  the  complete  grocer  and 
complete  butcher,  where  anything  in  foodstuffs  can  be  bought. 

(b)  A  combination  of  dry  grocer  and  butcher,  such  as  is  found  in  some  depart- 
ment stores. 

(c)  A  combination  of  green  grocer  and  butcher,  such  as  is  found  under  one 
roof  in  many  butcher  shops. 

Forming  a  third  of  the  large  classes  are  those  stores  which  sell  foods  freshly 
cooked,  but  not  served  to  be  eaten  on  the  premises. 

These  include  delicatessen  stores,  rotisseries  and  bakeries. 


171 


Cash  V.  Credit. — All  retail  stores  may  again  be  divided  into  those  who  sell  for 
cash  only  and  those  who  sell  for  cash  or  on  credit. 

It  has,  in  all  retail  selling,  been  found  necessary  to  the  quick  despatch  of  business 
that  on  every  article  a  fixed  price  be  set  and  maintained.  Attempts  have  been  made 
in  stores  selling  on  credit  to  have  two  prices,  one  for  cash  and  one  for  credit 
customers.  But  credit  customers  have  always  resented  this  so  strongly  that  this  has 
been  abandoned.  So  far  as  known,  retailers  have  not  put  into  force  the  ordinary 
commercial  discount  of  2  per  cent.  10  days,  net  cash  30  days;  probably  because  the 
few  cents  on  the  ordinary  consumer's  weekly  bill  would  not  prove  very  attractive. 

Prices  necessarily  average  higher  in  stores  of  like  location  and  character,  selling 
on  credit  than  in  those  selling  for  cash. 

Although  the  capital  required  is  greater  and  the  risk  and  loss  from  bad  debts  more 
many  retailers  prefer  to  sell  on  credit.  Their  customers  are  more  localized,  more 
loyal,  freer  buying  in  quantity,  and  not  so  insistent  that  each  article  shall  be  a  bargain 
in  point  of  price.  They  can  thus  avoid  considerable  advertising  expense  and  can  spare 
themselves  the  trouble  of  constant  bargain  hunting  in  the  markets. 

The  two  classes  of  stores  are  probably  necessary — the  one  for  those  customers 
who  value  their  time  and  convenience  more  than  the  savings  to  be  effected,  and  the 
other  for  those  who  make  the  savings  paramount. 

There  is  often  a  marked  difference  in  the  courtesy  and  even  in  the  character  of 
the  help  between  credit  and  cash  stores  in  favor  of  the  former.  This  in  itself  is  a 
considerable  incentive  to  refined  persons  to  deal  at  the  credit  stores. 

Any  retailer  has  the  following  operations  to  perform: 

(a)  Purchase  his  wares  at  wholesale  and  have  them  delivered. 

(b)  Arrange  them  to  suitably  exhibit  to  customers. 

(c)  Attract  the  customers. 

(d)  Sell  the  goods. 

(e)  Assemble  or  cut  off  in  required  amounts  the  goods  forming  an  order. 

(f)  Make  out  and  render  the  bills. 

(g)  Deliver  the  goods. 

(h)  Rectify  mistakes. 

(i)  Collect  the  moneys  due. 
(j)  Do  the  accounting, 
(k)  Keep  the  store  clean. 

(1)  Store,  pick  over,  and  care  for  such  perishable  goods  as  are  bought  in  greater 
quantity  than  can  be  sold  in  one  day. 

(m)  The  various  operations  above  enumerated  may  be  done  separately  or  more 
than  one  at  a  time  by  the  same  person. 

(a)  Purchasing. — This  is  generally  attended  to  by  the  proprietor  or  by  some 
officer  of  the  company  delegated  because  of  special  fitness. 

Green  groceries  are  bought  in  market;  dry  groceries  from  manufacturers  or  job- 
bers. 

Some  of  the  less  perishable  of  the  green  groceries  are  now  bought  by  sample 
from  jobbers  or  agents  by  the  retailer  in  his  own  store.  Retailers  do  a  considerable 
buying  in  this  way,  basing  their  price  bargaining  upon  prices  and  price  tendencies  in 
recent  markets  by  them  attended  and  upon  offers  from  other  jobbers  who  have 
visited  them. 

In  dry  grocery  buying  this  purchasing  in  the  retailer's  own  store  from  visiting 
salesmen  of  the  wholesale  grocers  and  from  manufacturers'  agents  is  quite  the 
usual  thing.  The  retailer  may  visit  several  of  the  wholesale  houses  once  in  a  while 
to  keep  in  touch  with  prices  and  qualities,  but  he  can  keep  pretty  well  posted  from  the 
salesmen  of  the  various  houses  who  come  offering  similar  lines  of  goods.  These 
carry  samples  sometimes,  but  often  only  give  verbal  descriptions  based  on  personal 


172 


knowledge  of  the  goods  and  quote  prices.  Goods  are  shipped  on  account,  subject  to 
approval  and  are  generally  received,  if  returned,  without  any  unpleasantness  what- 
ever. Sales  are  generally  on  30  days  net  cash,  2  per  cent.  10  days,  delivered  gen- 
erally free  by  the  wholesalers'  trucks  within  the  city  limits. 

Manufacturers'  agents  are  more  apt  to  carry  samples  showing  the  goods  and 
illustrations  or  actual  packages  showing  the  appearance,  sizes,  etc. 

Butchers  generally  go  to  market  in  person  and  select  or  try  to  select  desirable 
carcasses. 

Except  where,  as  in  the  case  of  fowl,  the  requirements  of  a  certain  religion 
have  been  allowed  to  give  rise  to  exceptions,  butchers  are  not  permitted  to  slaughter 
within  the  city  limits. 

In  all  other  cases  slaughtering  is  done  either  by  a  few  licensed  slaughtering  con- 
cerns within  the  city  or  else  out  of  the  city. 

As  considerable  knowledge  and  ability  are  required  to  select  the  most  advan- 
tageous carcasses  for  retailing,  butchers  generally  attend  personally  to  their  pur- 
chasing. The  largest  part  of  this  purchasing  is  done  in  the  early  morning,  largely, 
perhaps,  because  the  work  of  retailing  is  lighter  at  that  time  than  later  in  the 
day.  The  retailer  in  this  case  necessarily  has  cold  storage  facilities  of  his  own 
and  generally  these  are  adequate  to  hold  several  days'  supplies.  He  does  not,  there- 
fore, have  to  purchase  a  day's  supply  at  a  time.  He  thus  saves  on  time  spent  in 
marketing  and  on  delivery  costs,  and  also  tends  to  secure  the  better  price  which 
a  large  purchaser  generally  gets. 

The  wholesale  price  of  like  qualities  of  meats  in  like  quantities  is  almost  uni- 
formly the  same  at  any  one  time  throughout  the  city.  And  the  quantity  of  meats 
which  the  public  uses  per  day  is  pretty  well  known  and  only  this  quantity  is  placed 
on  the  market.  The  wholesale  dressed  meat  market  is  thus,  through  the  domination 
of  a  few  large  concerns,  so  controlled  and  steadied  as  to  be  largely  free  from  those 
shortages  and  glut  which  make  the  produce  market  so  unsteady.  Quite  apart  from  the 
question  of  the  advantage  or  disadvantage  of  this  to  the  consumer  it  certainly  saves 
time  and  effort  to  the  retailer,  who  can  thus  trade  at  the  nearest  wholesaler's  with 
fair  assurance  that  no  competitor  is,  by  underbuying,  enabled  to  undersell  him  and 
still  have  a  normal  profit. 

Meats  are  frequently  delivered  by  the  wholesaler's  trucks,  but  many  butchers  do 
still  go  to  market  in  their  own  wagons,  especially  where  very  prompt  receipt  of 
the  goods  is  required. 

Fish  and  fowl  similarly  are  bought  in  market  by  the  retailers.  Commission 
men,  acting  either  as  receivers  for  shippers  or  as  owners,  used  to  do  a  large  business 
in  killed  fowl.  Since  this  has  come  under  the  domination  of  the  large  packers 
the  quality  and  condition  throughout  the  barrel  or  other  package  has  become  much 
more  uniform  and  dependable. 

Eggs  are  sold  wholesale  by  crates,  all  in  a  crate  being  of  the  same  grade. 

Since  these  grades  are  uniform  and  pretty  well  understood  by  the  retailers,  they 
do  not  need  to  visit  the  market  to  inspect  these  goods  when  purchasing.  The  eggs 
are  held  in  cold  storage  and  are  sold  by  quotations. 

Butter  and  cheese  are  also  pretty  well  standardized. 

When  bought  from  commission  houses  eggs,  butter,  and  cheese  are  perhaps 
most  usually  brought  from  the  wholesale  district  to  the  retailers  either  in  the  re- 
tailer's own  wagon  or  else  by  public  truckmen  or  expressmen. 

There  are  a  number  of  articles,  such  as  canned  goods  of  all  sorts,  dried  fruits  of 
all  sorts,  nuts,  honey,  table  oils,  etc.,  which  are  wholesaled  both  by  the  wholesale 
grocery  houses  and  also  by  special  dealers  in  these  articles. 

Some  retailers  seem  satisfied  that  the  wholesale  grocers  have  as  good  goods 
at  as  fair  prices  as  can  be  gotten;  others  prefer  to  shop  among  these  special  dealers. 


173 


Canned  goods  fluctuate  in  wholesale  price  considerably  and  both  because  they  are 
used  in  much  larger  quantity  than  the  other  articles  above  mentioned  and  because 
of  this  fluctuation  in  price  more  attention  is  usually  given  to  their  purchasing. 

Milk,  excepting  that  rather  small  portion  of  the  whole  which  is  retailed  by  the 
grocery  stores  and  by  the  restaurants  is  marketed  peculiarly  in  this,  that  the 
wholesaler  is  also  the  retailer,  the  large  companies  buying  direct  from  the  farmers 
and  selling  and  delivering  directly  to  the  consumers. 

Cash  stores  are  constantly  on  the  hunt  for  bargains.  They  buy  close,  often  in 
very  large  quantities  and  for  cash.  They  are  thus  able  to  profit  by  the  needs  of 
producers  or  manufacturers  who  get  into  financial  difficulties. 

Credit  stores,  on  the  other  hand,  do  not  in  general  display  such  sharp  buying 
ability,  nor  have  they  so  often  the  cash  on  hand  with  which  to  seize  upon  any 
opportunities  which  may  offer. 

Many  of  these  buy  from  the  wholesalers  on  30  days'  time. 

(b)  Arrangement  of  Goods. — Consumers  frequently  do  not  know  what  to  pur- 
chase to  satisfy  their  own  wants  and,  in  fact,  often  do  not  know  what  they  want. 
Goods,  properly  displayed,  act  suggestively  on  these  people,  causing  them  to  formu- 
late their  wants  and  thus  greatly  reduce  the  work  of  selling.  The  amount  of 
thought,  labor,  and  expense  put  upon  this  display  increases  with  the  quality  and 
expensiveness  of  the  store. 

Goods  which  as  bought  are  packed  in  containers  of  such  size  as  the  consumer 
will  buy  can  be  displayed  in  these  containers  and  thus  save  a  rehandling  of  these 
goods,  piece  by  piece. 

This  work  is  one  on  which  the  wise  retailer  constantly  employs  all  the  otherwise 
unoccupied  time  of  his  sales  force.  It  is,  accordingly,  very  difficult  to  secure  any 
figures  covering  this  item. 

(c)  Attract  the  Customers. — As  has  been  pointed  out,  cash  stores  and  credit 
stores  differ  quite  markedly  in  the  loyalty  of  their  customers.  Since  the  cash  stores 
cater  to  those  who  habitually  shop  for  prices,  cash  stores  of  necessity  advertise  con- 
siderably and  some  of  them  constantly.  They  are  thus  forced  to  know  how  to  get 
some  returns  from  their  advertising.  Few  of  the  credit  stores  make  a  continuous  ad- 
vertising campaign  of  any  sort  and  with  most  of  them  advertising  is  an  extremely 
desultory  affair.  Generally  speaking,  they  do  not  get  results  from  their  advertising, 
and,  while  a  great  many  of  them  could  arrange  to  handle  more  business  if  they 
could  get  it,  and  some  of  them  realize  plainly  how  much  to  their  advantage  such  an 
increase  of  business  would  be,  most  of  them  seem  to  feel  hopeless  of  attracting 
customers  from  without  a  certain  small  radius,  or  of  keeping  much  more  than  their 
present  lead  over  that  competition  which  is  constantly  seeking  to  establish  itself 
near  to  the  successful. 

Of  the  many  forms  of  advertising  which  might  be  used,  newspaper  advertising, 
window  and  wagon  displays,  billboard  posters,  and  advertising  in  programs  seem 
to  be  most  favored. 

Other  means  besides  the  direct  appeal  of  advertising  are  used,  such  as  subscrip- 
tions to  church  affairs,  presents  to  those  who  can  influence  orders,  etc.,  as  well  as 
such  more  legitimate  means  as  special  courtesy,  promptness  and  cleanliness  in  the 
store,  convenience  of  location,  good  lighting,  etc. 

Stores  generally  advertise  "leaders,"  goods  marked  to  be  sold  below  the  usual 
retail  price.  In  some  cases  they  are  enabled  to  do  this  and  still  make  their  expenses 
by  sharp  buying,  but  very  often  these  goods  cost  as  much  or  more  than  they  sell 
for. 

Figures  as  to  the  number  of  customers  waited  upon  in  any  one  day  and  the 
amounts  of  their  purchases  are  difficult  to  secure. 

The  following  records  from  a  butcher  shop  having  on  all  week  days  except 


174 


Saturday  two  skilled  butchers  employed  waiting  on  customers  and  on  Saturday  one 
additional  butcher.  Also  two  1-horse  wagons  daily  and  on  Saturdays  one  errand  boy 
and  one  cashier  additional : 


Monday,  June  10,  weather  hot   99  customers 

Tuesday,  June  11,  hot  and  stormy   169  " 

Wednesday,  June  12,  stormy   177  "  . 

Thursday,  June  13,  fair   179  " 

Friday,  June  14,  fair   137  " 

Saturday,  June  15,  stormy  all  day   407  " 

Also, 

Monday,  Jime  17,  stormy   117  " 

Tuesday,  June  18,  fair   205  " 

Wednesday,  June  19,  fair   230  " 

Thursday,  June  20,  hot   160  " 

Friday,  June  21,  hot   Ill 

Saturday,  June  22,  hot   471 


As  the  average  sale  to  each  customer  was  larger  on  Saturdays  than  on  the  other 
days  it  is  clear,  if  by  advertising  or  other  means,  the  number  of  customers  could 
have  been  increased  on  other  days  this  retailer  could  have  made  the  same  profits  on  a 
much  smaller  increase  of  selling  price  over  cost  price. 

(d)  Selling  the  Goods. — Selling  the  goods  in  the  store  when  the  customers  have  been 
attracted  and  have  been  helped  toward  their  decisions  by  the  fixed  displays  requires, 
nevertheless,  for  best  results  some  power  of  suggestion;  an  exact  knowledge  of  the 
goods  and  of  their  prices;  a  decision  of  character  combined  with  courtesy  which 
enables  a  customer  to  quickly  reach  a  decision  without  feeling  hurried;  cleanliness, 
delicacy,  honesty,  and  judgment  as  to  what  to  promise  in  the  way  of  deliveries,  etc. 
Stores  whose  customers  are  people  of  importance  find  salespeople  of  this  sort  a 
necessity.  Stores  selling  poorer  people  have  often  less  efficient  salesmen,  especially 
among  their  hired  help. 

Cash  stores,  especially  those  who  have  few  regular  customers  and  who,  therefore, 
depend  upon  advertising  to  supply  them  with  customers,  frequently  have  salesmen 
badly  lacking  in  several  of  these  selling  requirements,  especially  in  courtesy,  delicacy, 
cleanliness,  and  honesty. 

In  many  cases  this  would  seem  to  be  as  much  a  matter  of  lack  of  ideals  and 
discipline  on  the  part  of  the  management  as  of  individual  lack  on  the  part  of  the 
salesmen. 

Where  "leaders"  are  employed  the  salesmen  are  obliged  to  use  their  arts  and 
wiles  to  sell  as  little  as  possible  of  the  "leaders"  and  as  much  as  possible  of 
ordinary  priced  or  high  priced  goods. 

As  a  part  of  selling,  fixing,  or  establishing  the  selling  price,  is  important.  A 
great  many  items  enter  into  this,  not  by  any  exact  mathematical  process  in  most 
cases,  but  by  the  relative  strength  of  the  hopes  and  fears  they  awaken  in  the 
price  fixer.  Prices  are  fixed  as  high  as  the  retailer  believes  he  can  get  and  still 
move  the  goods  sufliciently  fast  to  prevent  their  spoiling  and  to  keep  the  volume 
of  sales  up  to  the  point  which  will  yield  a  satisfactory  total  profit 

A  retailer  will  have  his  prices  higher  than  his  competitors  on  one  article,  lower  on 
another.  But  the  articles,  due  to  minor  differences,  will  not  always  be  directly  com- 
parable, and  for  this  reason  and  because  the  ordinary  consumer  is  not  extremely 
analytical  and  persistent,  retailers  do  not  have  a  sale  only  for  their  low  priced 
goods. 

Prices  vary  by  neighborhoods.  The  retailer  who  knows  the  temper  of  his  cus- 
tomers and  their  price  ideals  will  not  reduce  prices  because  the  wholesale  market 
price  has  lowered.   He  has  had  the  labor  and  trouble  of  educating  his  customers  to 


175 


a  state  of  resignation  to  a  certain  scale  of  high  prices  and,  as  long  as  the  wholesale 
market  price  does  not  increase,  he  tends  to  hold  his  retail  prices  where  they  have 
been.  He  knows  that  his  customers  will  spend  only  about  so  much  for  foodstuffs 
and  he  has  no  desire  to  handle  largely  increased  quantities  of  goods  to  get  the 
same  gross  profit.  On  the  contrary,  if  the  wholesale  price  is  low  and  the  other 
retailers  will  act  in  concert  to  keep  retail  prices  high,  the  profits  to  all  of  them  are 
much  greater.  This  applies  most  particularly  to  articles  the  prices  of  which  vary  most 
rapidly,  and  especially  to  "most  perishable"  goods.  The  retailers  do  act  in  such 
concert,  not  by  formulated  agreement,  but  by  a  common  business  sense. 

(e)  Assemble  or  Cut-off  the  Goods,  Etc. — A  few  retailers  have,  by  giving  special 
care  to  the  putting  up  of  orders  when  the  purchaser  is  not  present  to  protect  his 
or  her  interests,  established  for  themselves  such  good  reputations  that  their  cus- 
tomers gladly  order  in  this  way.  This  is  of  advantage  to  the  retailer,  as  enabling 
him  to  keep  his  help  busy  when  customers  are  not  in  the  store,  and,  in  some  cases, 
of  permitting  cheaper  help  than  salesmen  to  be  used  in  putting  up  orders.  Also,  in 
some  cases,  these  orders  are  put  up  from  goods  which  are  not  part  of  the  display, 
but  which  are  held  in  open  stock,  thus  saving  a  little  expense  here. 

The  majority  of  retailers  have  not  given  this  special  attention,  so  that  for  them 
the  impression  holds  among  consumers  that  entirely  satisfactory  treatment  can  only 
be  secured  by  having  their  goods  put  up  in  their  presence,  and,  in  some  cases,  only 
by  immediately  taking  their  purchases  away  with  them. 

The  dissatisfaction  is  generally  with  quality  and  with  price,  but  sometimes  with 
quantity  also. 

The  majority  of  retailers  are  at  pains  to  keep  the  consumer  in  as  complete 
ignorance  as  possible  of  the  goods  offered  for  sale.  They  do  this  by  refusing  or 
giving  false  or  confusing  information  about  comparative  qualities,  market  gradings, 
comparative  value,  wholesale  prices,  etc. 

Goods  already  put  up  in  packages,  cartons,  or  containers  are  easier  and  quicker 
to  sell,  to  put  up  into  orders  and  to  deliver.  Retailers  prefer  them  for  this  reason 
because  there  is  less  spoilage  and  also  because  there  is  no  loss  of  weight  such  as 
occurs  in  making  up  small  quantities  from  large  ones. 

Butchers  sell  in  one  of  two  ways,  either  by  meats  already  cut  up  into  what,  in 
the  retailer's  judgment,  are  saleable  sized  chops,  steaks,  cuts,  etc.,  as  far  as  possible 
all  of  one  quality,  or  else  by  cutting  from  the  large  portions  into  which  for  con- 
venience of  handling  the  carcass  is  divided,  such  sized  steaks,  chops,  etc.,  as  the 
customer  requires. 

Carcasses  as  bought  have  on  them  considerable  fat  and  bone  which  are  of  little 
use  to  the  customer,  the  amount  which  would  be  removed  from  a  steak  as  cut 
from  a  carcass  to  make  an  ordinarily  well-trimmed  steak  averaging  about  15  per 
cent.  The  butchers  who  trim  this  before  weighing  for  the  customer  must  ask 
an  apparently  higher  price  than  do  those  who  trim  after  weighing.  The  bones  so 
trimmed  out  do  not  ordinarily  bring  the  butcher  anything  from  the  people  who 
collect  the  same  and  the  fat,  which  with  the  carcass  cost  the  butcher  perhaps  12 
cents  per  pound,  only  bring  3  cents.  Unskillful  cutting  may  result  in  including 
portions  of  high  quality  meat  with  cheaper  cuts  or  in  including  a  disproportionately 
large  share  of  the  good  end  with  the  poorer.  For  these  reasons  skillful  butchers 
are  necessary  and  their  wages  add  considerably  to  the  expense  of  retailing. 

Cash  butchers  are  apt  for  the  above  reasons  to  sell  as  much  as  possible  of  meats 
already  cut  and  to  weigh  them  before  trimming. 

The  goods  sold  have,  in  any  case,  to  be  collected  into  some  container  or  package 
for  delivery  to  the  consumer.  If  the  goods  are  to  be  carried  home  by  the  con- 
sumer in  general,  they  have  to  be  so  wrapped  up  as  to  have  their  identity  concealed. 
If  delivered  a  considerable  of  this  wrapping  expense  can  be  avoided.    In  one  case 


176 


the  expense  for  paper,  twine,  or  cord,  etc.,  was  9  per  cent,  of  all  the  selling  and 
delivering  expense  other  than  wages. 

Where  a  customer  whose  purchases  are  to  be  delivered  is  waited  upon  by  different 
salespeople  in  one  store  within  a  short  time  a  system  which  insures  that  all  these 
purchases  shall  be  assembled  into  one  delivery  often  makes  great  saving  in  the 
delivery  costs. 

(f)  Making  Out  and  Rendering  the  Bill. — This  varies  from  the  simple  bill  copied 
by  hand  into  the  retailer's  ledger,  which  is  barely  suitable  to  the  personally  con- 
ducted credit  business  of  the  smallest,  simplest  type  to  the  seemingly  complicated 
time  and  money  saving  forms  used  by  some  of  the  larger  markets  and  the  better 
systemized  department  stores. 

With  cash  stores  the  bill  is  often  unnecessary. 

While  the  bill  adds  some  little  to  the  cost  of  goods,  even  a  brief  discussion  of 
its  various  forms  leads  into  too  much  complication  to  be  profitable. 

(g)  Deliver  the  Goods. — The  money  costs  of  deliveries  vary  with  the  distances 
between  the  delivery  points ;  with  the  receiving  facilities  at  the  places  delivered  to ;  and, 
to  a  small  extent,  with  the  weight  delivered. 

The  percentage  costs  of  delivery,  i.  e.,  the  relative  cost  of  the  delivery  to  the 
value  of  the  goods  delivered,  varies,  directly  as  does  the  money  cost,  but  inversely  as 
the  value  of  the  goods  delivered. 

The  ideal  delivery  system  consists  of  short  routes  starting  from  and  finally  closing 
back  onto  some  depot,  with  many  deliveries  from  each  of  the  frequent  and  about 
uniformly  spaced  stops.  The  delivery  means  which  is  cheapest  for  a  very  short 
route  may  be  a  boy  with  a  basket;  in  fact,  if  the  wagon  be  considered  as  the  moving 
depot  which  it  really  is,  the  boy  with  the  basket  is  a  necessary  part  of  every  small 
quantity  delivery  to  houses. 

It  is  not  economical  to  frequently  start  and  stop  heavy  trucks,  nor  is  it  economical 
to  haul  goods  long  distances  in  wagons  of  small  capacity.  For  these  reasons  ideal 
delivery  systems  serving  districts  distant  from  the  sales  place  have  a  depot  centrally 
located  in  each  such  district  to  which  the  goods  are  hauled  by  trains,  trolleys,  or 
heavy  trucks  and  from  which  light  delivery  wagons  run  over  routes  which  close 
back  onto  the  depot  from  which  they  started. 

Isolated  deliveries  of  small  size  are  best  made  by  engaging  the  services  of  some 
carrier,  whether  expressman  or  parcels  post,  which  regularly  covers  such  isolated 
point.  Where,  as  in  the  case  of  perishable  foodstuffs,  delivery  must  be  made  promptly, 
delivery  should  be  refused. 

For  business-getting  reasons  large  retailers  often  agree  to  deliver  goods  anywhere 
within  certain  extensive  limits.  In  some  cases  the  actual  cost  of  these  deliveries 
exceeds  the  total  sales  price  of  the  goods  delivered.  This  is  not  only  expensive 
to  the  retailer,  but  it  is  unjust  to  even  that  consumer  whose  goods  are  delivered 
at  an  average  distance  from  the  store  and  much  more  unjust  to  the  consumer  who 
purchases  in  quantity  or  who  carries  the  purchases  home.  For  the  retailer  has  to 
charge  enough  to  cover  the  expenses  of  doing  business  and  to  give  him  at  least 
profit  enough  to  live  on.  He,  therefore,  in  making  free  deliveries,  arbitrarily  assumes 
the  right  to  assess  upon  each  of  his  customers  the  average  of  the  expense  of  all 
deliveries. 

The  system  of  free  deliveries  is  inherently  bad,  in  that  it  not  only  furnishes  no 
reward  to  those  who,  by  foresight,  try  to  reduce  waste  of  human  effort  in  such 
delivery,  but  that  it  actually  stimulates  even  the  wisest  of  the  consumers  to  use 
carelessly  what  they  must  help  pay  for  anyway. 

The  cost  of  delivering  varies  also  with  the  facilities  for  the  receiving  of  the 
goods. 

Anything  which  takes  the  deliveryman's  time  or  causes  him  extra  effort  to  make 


177 


a  delivery  adds  to  the  expense  of  delivery.  Thus  waiting  for  people  to  come  to  the 
door,  deliveries  through  cellars  to  dumbwaiters,  carrying  goods  upstairs,  going  to 
neighboring  stores  to  get  change,  etc.,  while  all  possibly  necessary  under  existing 
arrangements,  all  add  to  the  delivery  expense.  The  cheapest  deliveries  in  actual 
cost  per  delivery  are  those  such  as  milk  and  sometimes  rolls  and  bread,  which  are 
delivered  to  accustomed  or  designated  places  at  a  time  when  most  of  those  who 
might  receive  or  be  disturbed  are  asleep.  This  is  possible  for  goods  of  large  bulk 
compared  with  their  value. 

The  costs  of  delivery  will  be  decreased  where  it  is  possible  to  secure  efficient  help 
at  low  prices.  Boys  were  at  one  time  largely  used  for  this  service,  but  the  better 
grade  of  boys  are  no  longer  permitted  by  their  parents  or  guardians  to  engage  in 
occupations  which  offer  so  little  future. 

Where  men  are  used  it  has  been  found  necessary  by  several  of  the  large  milk 
companies  to  pay  about  $2.50  per  day  for  about  9  to  10  hours'  work  to  secure 
intelligent  and  efficient  service. 

On  this  basis,  and  keeping  the  costs  of  delivery  down  as  low  as  they  can  with 
the  aid  of  careful  and  well-informed  administration,  the  cost  of  the  actual  delivery 
of  milk,  apart  from  costs  of  administration  or  other  overhead  costs,  is  about  2 
cents  per  quart,  or,  since  the  average  delivery  is  about  1.4  quarts,  the  average  cost 
per  delivery  is  about  2j4  cents. 

These  deliveries  are  made  under  especially  favorable  conditions  of  concentrated 
grouping,  of  time  and  of  receiving  facilities  and  would  cost  much  more  if  made 
during  the  ordinary  waking  hours.  It  is  to  be  expected,  therefore,  except  where 
the  ordinary  retailer  can  secure  much  cheaper  efficient  help  than  can  the  milk  com- 
panies, his  deliveries  will  cost  much  more  each  as  an  average.  Estimates  by  guess 
or  opinion  of  5  cents  per  nearby  wagon  delivery  have  been  received  from  several 
grocers.  What  the  cost  of  delivery  to  outlying  districts  has  been  may  be  judged  by 
the  parcels  postage  which  some  of  the  department  stores  now  pay  in  preference  to 
deliveries  by  express  companies  or  by  their  own  wagons. 

(h)  Rectify  Mistakes. — Where  the  salesman  personally  wraps  up  the  goods  and  per- 
sonally delivers  them  at  once  to  the  customer,  receiving  in  return  the  price  thereof, 
the  chance  for  mistake  is  almost  eliminated.  As  a  business  increases  in  size,  it 
becomes  necessary  to  use  the  help  procurable  for  those  portions  of  the  work  to  which 
they  are  by  their  abilities  best  fitted.  The  larger  businesses  thus  become  func- 
tionized  and  require  carefully  planned  and  often  expensive  systems  to  keep  things 
running  straight.  Where  mistakes  occur  retailers  rectify  cheerfully  and  without 
pretence  of  making  any  investigation,  claiming  that  the  cost  of  investigation  often 
exceeds  the  value  of  the  goods  in  question. 

With  a  good  system  the  expense  due  to  mistakes  is  almost  or  quite  negligible. 

(i)  Collect  the  Moneys  Due. — This  collection  becomes  an  expense  item  adding  ma- 
terially to  the  costs  of  retailing  goods  only  in  the  case  of  credit  stores. 

The  expense  is  not  so  much  for  collecting  as  for  the  loss  of  accounts  which  are 
not  paid.  Where  accounts  are  permitted  to  run  only  a  week  without  payment,  no  one 
bill  in  general  reaches  such  size  that  the  consumer  cannot  possibly  by  judicious 
handling,  be  induced  and  enabled  to  catch  up  and  pay  up.  But  where  extravagance 
is  permitted  to  pay  in  promises  until  entirely  unable  to  recover  its  credit,  the  honest 
customers  are  levied  upon  without  their  cognizance  to  wipe  out  the  retailer's  negli- 
gence. It  is  estimated  by  some  retailers  that,  as  between  customers  of  the  same 
loyalty,  etc.,  all  paying  cash  or  all  dealing  on  ordinary  credit,  that  to  those  paying 
cash  prices  could  be  made  10  per  cent,  lower  with  the  same  profit  to  the  retailer. 

As  has  been  already  noted,  some  stores  to  combine  the  advantages  of  both  cash 
and  credit  stores  are  endeavoring  to  have  their  customers  always  keep  on  deposit 


178 


with  them  sufficient  moneys  to  cover  either  any  ordinary  bill  of  goods  or  else  to 
cover  a  week's  purchases. 

(j)  Accounting. — With  the  ordinary  retailer  the  accounting  is  done  by  him  person- 
ally and  in  spare  times  or  after  business  hours.  This  item  does  not,  therefore,  often 
add  much  cost  to  the  goods  retailed. 

(k)  Cleaning  Up. — This  item  generally  adds  a  little  to  the  expenses.  While 
it  may  be  said  that  the  clerks,  etc.,  have  to  do  this  after  customers  have  ceased  to 
purchase,  nevertheless  the  clerks  must,  in  their  own  comparison  of  hours  and 
effort  required  of  them  as  compared  with  those  required  of  others  or  in  other 
occupations,  take  this  extra  effort  and  time  into  account.  And  this,  sooner  or  later, 
compels  an  increase  in  wages  and  therefore  in  selling  expenses.  Sand  or  sawdust, 
brooms,  fees  to  garbagemen  and  ash  men,  etc.,  come  in.  No  figures  are  available 
as  to  the  total  costs  of  this;  but  in  one  case  garbage  removals  and  sawdust  alone 
amounted  to  about  IJ^  per  cent,  of  the  total  expense,  apart  from  rent  and  wages. 

(1)  Store,  Pick  Over,  and  Care  for  Perishable  Goods. — "Cold  storage,"  "perishable," 
and  even  "semi-perishable"  goods  are  deteriorating,  or,  at  least,  tending  to  deteriorate 
most  of  the  time  after  they  are  ready  to  retail. 

Retailers  of  cold  storage  goods  are  usually  equipped  with  ice  boxes  which  can 
reduce  the  temperature  therein  to  within  a  few  degrees  of  the  freezing  point.  A 
few  of  them  have  mechanical  refrigerating  plants  which  can  reduce  the  temperature 
to  below  the  freezing  point. 

The  reduction  of  temperature  attainable  by  the  use  of  ice  is  sufficient  to  delay 
for  short  periods,  but  not  to  prevent,  the  spoiling  of  meats,  butter,  etc.  The 
mechanical  refrigeration  plants,  if  of  sufficient  size,  can  prevent  this  spoiling  for 
quite  long  periods. 

Either  method  is  quite  costly,  the  ice  bill  for  a  moderate  sized  butcher  shop 
amounting  to  about  25  per  cent,  of  the  total  year's  expenses,  other  than  rent  and 
wages,  and  running  up  to  $40  a  week  in  hot  weather,  which  was  6  per  cent,  of  the 
total  price  received  from  all  sales  in  that  week.  Even  at  this,  there  were  some 
losses  by  spoilage. 

Grocers,  apart  from  small  ice  boxes  for  butter,  milk,  etc.,  seldom  have  any  proper 
facilities  for  cold  or  even  cool  storage  of  their  perishable  or  semi-perishable  goods. 
Losses  on  these  when  shut  up  tight  over  one  or  several  nights  in  a  poorly  ventilated 
store  or  cellar  often  run  high. 

A  very  few  grocers  have  enclosures  under  cover  where  fruits  and  vegetables  can 
be  stored  with  good  ventilation  and  protected  from  direct  sunlight  and  from  pecula- 
tion. Very  few  indeed  have  any  means  for  keeping  vegetables  or  fruits  in  cool 
or  cold  storage. 

Because  of  these  losses  few  grocers  buy  much  more  than  a  day's  supply  of  perish- 
able goods  at  a  time  and  few  buy  even  the  semi-perishables  in  much  quantity.  They 
are  thus  compelled  to  either  go  to  market  or  purchase  from  jobbers,  generally  daily, 
and  to  purchase  at  the  then  holding  market  price.  The  retailers,  therefore,  do  not 
exercise  as  great  a  steadying  effect  on  the  market  as  they  would  if  they  had  better 
storage  facilities  and  they  do  add  considerably  to  the  cost  of  their  goods  by  this 
necessary  daily  marketing. 

A  great  deal  of  sorting  and  caring  for  goods,  apart  from  that  entailed  in  making 
a  proper  display,  is  made  necessary  by  this  spoilage  in  store.  No  figures  as  to  the 
cost  of  this  are  available,  but  the  costs  undoubtedly  run  high,  both  for  this  and  for 
the  losses  by  spoilage. 

Growers  are,  to  a  very  considerable  extent,  leaving  the  retailing  of  fruits  and 
vegetables  to  retailers  who,  in  stores  of  their  own,  or  stands  rented  from  butchers, 
make  a  specialty  of  this.    These  retailers  are  mostly  Italians,  who  seem  to  under- 


179 


stand  the  care  and  handling  required  for  success  in  this  line  far  better  than  the 
ordinary  grocer. 

Rent. — If  a  store  prove  successful  in  a  certain  location,  the  retailer  is  very  un- 
willing to  move.  The  buying  public  is  influenced  by  small  things,  and  ones  which 
are  frequently  hard  to  foresee.  Thus  one  side  of  a  certain  street  is  a  good  business 
side,  the  other  side  is  not.  This  same  street  is  a  big  retail  business  street  within 
certain  short  limits  not  marked  by  car  lines.  Retailers  on  this  street  are  very  timid 
about  moving;  some  have  moved  in  times  past  and  a  few  have  failed  in  conse- 
quence. 

If,  then,  a  retail  business  prove  successful  the  owners  of  the  property  help 
themselves  by  increasing  rent  as  soon  as  the  lease  permits,  and  to  as  large  an  extent 
as  prudence  allows.  The  success  of  this  one  business  to  some  extent  established  the 
business  value  of  the  immediate  locality  and  the  adjoining  rents  rise  rapidly  also. 
This  rise  in  rent  is,  of  course,  accompanied  by  a  raise  in  the  owner's  valuation  of 
the  property  and  at  some  time  later,  if  success  continues,  by  an  increased  assessed 
valuation,  and  therefore  by  higher  taxes. 

This  is  part  of  the  price  which  the  successful  retailer  must  pay  out  and  for  which 
the  consumer  must  recompense  him.  Nevertheless,  if  he  can  secure  customers 
enough,  the  retailer  can  generally  afford  to  sell  the  consumer  at  lower  prices  than 
can  the  retailer  with  small  rent  and  few  customers. 

The  majority  of  grocery  retailers  buy  goods  on  from  30  to  60  days'  time.  They 
endeavor  to  keep  in  stock  only  such  quantities  of  such  goods  as  they  can  "turn 
over,"  or  dispose  of,  within  that  time.  Of  stuff  which  sells  slower  they  purchase 
correspondingly  less,  so  that  to  a  very  considerable  extent  their  credit  is  invested 
in  their  stock  of  goods  and  their  capital  in  their  fixtures,  wagons,  horses,  etc.,  out- 
standing customers'  accounts,  cash  for  running  expenses,  and  to  some  extent  in 
vegetables  and  fruits  when  these  are  bought  from  farmers  or  other  marketmen 
for  spot  cash. 

The  retailer  knows  perfectly  well  how  much  better  he  can  buy  in  larger  quan- 
tities and  he  is  constantly  being  importuned  by  salesmen  to  stock  up  heavily  of  the 
goods  offered,  but  he  has  to  use  judgment  to  resist  the  inducements  offered.  And, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  retailer  daily  has  people  leave  his  store  without  purchasing, 
because  he  cannot  induce  them  to  buy  that  form  of  an  article  which  he  has  in 
place  of  that  which  they  desire  or  have  been  led  by  advertisements  to  believe  that 
they  may  desire. 

The  buying  public  has  little  by  little  been  educated  away  from  the  general  store 
to  different  special  stores,  but  the  special  stores  each  carry  a  far  greater  variety 
in  their  specialty  than  the  general  store  did  or  could.  The  tendency  is  thus  unfor- 
tunately, not  toward  that  simplicity  which  makes  for  lower  prices,  but  toward  an 
often  needless  complexity,  largely  the  result  of  competitive  methods. 

The  retailer  has  not  in  general  developed  extensive  business  getting  methods. 
Advertising  might  help  him,  but  unless  that  is  done  skillfully,  extensively  and 
continuously  the  advertiser  seldom  gets  back  the  money  put  into  it.  The  retailers 
have  not  the  necessary  past  experience  to  induce  them  to  favorably  consider  the 
investment  of  their  capital  in  such  an  intangible,  evanescent  and  hazardous  form. 
Nor  in  general  are  there  any  advertising  mediums  except  calendars,  mailed  matter, 
billboards,  window  and  wagons  displays,  that  are  sufficiently  localized  to  give  good 
returns  on  the  publicity  brought  to  retailers  whose  business  is  of  a  purely  neighbor- 
hood type. 

The  following  examples  of  expenses  for  butcher  shops  taken  as  averages  of 
actual  cases  are  shown  as  giving  a  good  idea  as  to  what  becomes  of  the  difference 
between  the  prices  paid  by  the  consumer  at  retail  and  those  paid  by  the  retailer  at 
wholesale. 


180 


The  expenses  are  for  a  year  and  the  proprietor  in  each  case  took  for  himself 
as  compensation  for  his  days  and  nights  of  work  the  amount  shown.  The  net  profits 
left  after  deducting  these  expenses  from  the  gross  profits  were  for  the  smaller 
store  sometimes  as  high  as  a  gain  of  $250  in  a  month,  sometimes  as  low  as  a  loss 
of  $300  in  a  month ;  the  total  net  gain  for  a  year  was  in  some  cases  as  high  as  $600, 
in  other  cases  a  loss  of  $200.  The  expenses  ran  fairly  uniform,  but  the  volume  of 
business  varied  considerably. 

Retailers  also  report  difficulty  in  advancing  retail  prices  to  correspond  with 
wholesale  advances  without  loss  of  customers  or  a  curtailment  of  their  buying. 


Expenses  of  a  Butcher  Shop  of  the  Size  Indicated  and  Hiring  the  Help,  Etc. 

Shown. — Total  for  One  Year. 


Rent  of  store  (alone)  

Repairs  to  fixtures  

Insurance  on  fixtures,  $2,000  at  6%  

Telegrams  and  postage  

Bill  heads,  order  blanks,  etc  

Advertising — only  in  programs,  church 
papers,  etc  

Help  employed: 

1  Proprietor  at  $25.00 

1  Butcher  at   16.00 

1  Deliveryman  at   7.50 

1  Boy  at   3.00 

Extra  help  Saturdays — ^none  


Small  store. 
$600 


Ice  

Salt  

Sawdust . . 
Light,  gas. 


Garbage  removal  

Saw  filing  and  sharpening  

Paper,  cord,  and  skewers  

Expressage  

Carfare  and  incidentals  

Stable  expenses — rent,  feed,  bedding,  care 
of  horse,  harness  and  wagon — 1  horse 
and  1  wagon  

Shoeing  

Depreciation  on  horse  and  wagon  

Repairs  to  wagons  and  harness  


60 
12 
50 
50 

25 


2,678 


280 
30 
26 
60 

13 
38 
78 
100 
250 


324 
78 
50 
36 


Total  expenses   $4,766 

Net  profits  above  expenses   375 

Total  amount  of  yearly  sales   16,000 


$4,000  at  6%. 


Larger  store. 
$1,055 
90 
24 
75 
65 


1  Proprietor  at  $35.00 

2  Butchers  at  32.00 

2  DeHverymen  at . .  1 7 . 50 

1  Cashier  at   6.00 

1  Boy   4.00 

f  1  Butcher   5.00 

[IBoy   1.00 


Gas  

Electric . 


2  horses  and  2  wagons . 


ISO 


5,226 


400 
40 
SO 
29 
120 
32 
55 
1S6 
120 
390 

648 
156 
100 
72 


$9,048 
2,000 
40,000 


In  the  case  of  the  smaller  store  expenses  and  profits  figure  32  per  cent,  of  the 
total  sales ;  expenses  alone,  29.8  per  cent. 

In  the  case  of  the  larger  store  expenses  and  profits  figure  27.6  per  cent,  of  the 
total  sales ;  expenses  alone,  22.6  per  cent. 

The  average  of  all  purchases  in  several  butcher  shops  in  a  fairly  well-to-do 
neighborhood  is  about  54  cents  per  purchase,  and  it  is  less  in  poorer  neighborhoods. 
A  reduction  of  10  per  cent,  of  the  sales  price  of  this  purchase  is,  therefore,  little 
more  than  one  carfare.  It  will  accordingly  be  seen  that  if  consumers  are  to  purchase 
for  immediate  needs  only  they  must  purchase  in  local  stores. 


181 


A  much  larger  meat  market  claims  that  its  total  expenses  are  less  than  10 
per  cent,  of  the  gross  selling  price. 

Groceries. — The  gross  profits  on  different  articles  figured  as  a  percentage  of  the 
wholesale  price  vary  greatlj'  from  little  or  nothing  on  sugar  to  about  100  per  cent, 
on  tea.  They  average  for  the  grocery  business  between  20  and  25  per  cent. — in  few 
cases  more. 

A  retailer  doing  a  large  business  has  the  following  advantages  over  one  doing 
a  small  business : 

He  buys  in  larger  quantities,  and  therefore  generally  gets  a  better  price  than 
the  small  buyer.  In  addition  to  this,  he  can  often,  because  of  this  large  buying 
ability,  avail  himself  of  special  opportunities  to  buy  at  low  prices  from  those  pro- 
ducers who  are  pressed  for  cash,  etc. 

His  total  expenses  for  buying  are  often  but  little  more  than  those  of  a  much 
smaller  retailer,  and  this  expense  is  distributed  over  much  larger  quantities  pur- 
chased. 

His  store,  while  perhaps  costing  more  per  square  foot  of  floor  per  year  for  rent, 
is  used  so  much  more  actively  that  the  rent  charges  per  dollar  of  business  done  are 
much  less. 

His  clerks  and  help  are  kept  more  uniformly  busy  throughout  the  day  and 
therefore  cost  less  per  dollar  of  business  done. 

His  deliveries  can  often  be  better  arranged  and  therefore  are  less  costly  per 
delivery. 

He  is  apt  to  get  a  larger  percentage  of  the  large  sized  consumer's  orders  than 
does  the  small  retailer. 

He  is  able  to  equip  with  facilities  which  greatly  reduce  spoilage  losses,  delivery 
and  other  retailing  expenses. 

His  management,  accounting  and  similar  overhead  expenses,  while  perhaps  total- 
ing more  than  those  of  the  smaller  retailer,  are  spread  over  so  much  more  business 
as  to  constitute  a  considerable  reduction  in  the  percentage  of  expense. 

A  large  retail  grocer  advises  that  1,000  persons  (about  200  families)  to  supply 
would  make  a  very  nice  business  for  most  grocers,  but  that  his  business  runs  larger 
than  this. 

According  to  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Markets  of  New  York  State  Food 
Investigating  Commission,  there  are  11,000*  retail  grocers  within  Greater  New  York, 
and  the  approximate  retail  value  of  all  the  goods  sold  by  grocery  stores  and  con- 
sumed in  Greater  New  York  in  one  year  is  $644,683,000.  Also,  by  estimate  {World 
Almanac),  there  were  in  Greater  New  York,  January  1,  1912,  5,077,000  persons. 
The  average  retail  store,  therefore,  supplied  461  persons,  and  the  average  yearly 
sales  per  store  were  $58,600. 

This  is  the  average,  and  inasmuch  as  there  is  a  large  number  of  stores  whose 
total  yearly  sales  exceed  $100,000  each,  it  follows  that  the  total  yearly  sales  of  many 
of  the  retail  stores  are  pitifully  small.  Even  with  expenses  cut  down  to  the  point 
where  not  ordinary  wages  but  bare  living  costs  are  extracted  from  the  lousiness 
by  the  retailer,  the  rent  and  other  unvariable  expense  items  make  necessary  a 
high  percentage  of  increase  of  consumer's  price  over  wholesale  price  for  these 
small  retailers. 

These  small  retailers  cannot  lower  prices  without  taking  the  reduction  out  of 
their  own  pockets.  They  are  caught  in  a  situation  from  which  the  only  escape  is 
to  secure  a  greater  volume  of  business,  and  against  them  in  this  are  the  real  estate 
interests,  always  seeking  to  rent  more  stores  and  to  increase  rent  expenses  to  them. 

The  consuming  public  prolongs  through  misguided  sympathy  the  struggles  of 
these  smallest  retailers,  delaying  that  readjustment  of  occupation  for  the  unnecessary 

*  One  of  the  directory  companies  gives  the  number  of  retail  grocers  within  Greater  New  York  as  14,000. 


182 


retailer  which  would  really  benefit  his  condition  and  would  benefit  the  public  itself 
by  making  lower  food  prices  possible. 

As  it  is  the  larger  retail  stores  can  lower  prices  at  any  time  and  the  smaller 
ones  cannot.  The  larger  ones  have  it.  in  their  power,  therefore,  to  eliminate  a 
considerable  number  of  the  smaller  stores  at  any  time.  They  are  doing  this  to 
some  extent,  but  they  are  glad  to  have  as  competitors  who  furnish  criteria  as  to 
prices  a  class  whose  greatest  sacrifice  still  leaves  them  a  satisfactory  profit. 

The  larger  retailers  are  in  general  the  wiser  and  more  able  ones.  They  can  be 
depended  upon  not  to  enter  upon  exterminative  cut  rate  wars  among  themselves. 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  unless  they  can  make  combinations  with  the  wholesalers 
discriminating  against  the  small  retailers,  if  the  large  retailers  raise  prices  to  in- 
crease their  own  profits  directly,  the  smaller  retailers  can,  by  not  advancing  prices 
much  or  at  all,  secure  a  larger  volume  of  business,  and  therefore  a  better  profit. 

The  Integrity  of  the  Wholesale  Market  Is,  Therefore,  of  Prime  Importance 

TO  the  Consuming  Public 

But  it  is  possible  for  the  retailers,  by  a  campaign  of  education  carried  on  among 
themselves,  to  raise  the  judgments  of  practically  all  of  the  retailers  as  to  what 
profits  and  what  prices  they  should  get.  This  need  not  take  such  definite  form 
as  to  be  a  combination  in  restraint  of  trade.  It  may  simply  mean  a  new  set  of 
commercial  ideals  for  the  retailers,  a  set  of  new  personal  convictions  that  certain 
profits  are  their  rightful  due.  These  ideals  vary  from  one  locality  to  another,  but 
against  them  there  is  no  appeal  for  the  consumer. 

The  consumer's  only  chance  to  buy  at  anything  like  the  wholesale  market  price 
lies  in  a  sort  of  semi-wholesale  market,  where  the  minimum  of  services  is  sold 
along  with  the  foodstuffs.  Such  a  market  is  of  value  not  only  to  those  who  actually 
buy  therein,  but  also  to  a  considerable  degree  to  all  of  the  public,  as  furnishing 
examples  of  prices  to  consumers  which  can  actually  be  secured. 

There  have  long  been  retail  markets,  the  buildings  of  which  were  owned  by  the 
city  and  the  stalls  rented  out  to  retailers.  The  prices  are  somewhat  lower  than 
those  of  other  retailers  in  the  same  section  and  considerably  lower  than  those  of 
retailers  in  the  more  expensive  sections  of  the  city.  These  sell  about  as  little 
service  as  possible  along  with  the  foodstuffs ;  but  their  locations  are  in  general  so 
remote  from  the  consuming  districts  that  the  expense  of  time,  carfare  and  trouble 
greatly  reduces  their  value  to  the  community. 

A  very  successful  market  in  Philadelphia,  that  at  Reading  Terminal,  owes  a 
considerable  portion  of  its  success  to  the  package  system  of  that  railroad.  This 
railroad  has  always  paid  much  attention  to  its  commuting  business,  and,  in  addition, 
it  does  a  large  short-haul  passenger  business  within  the  city  limits. 

Packages  are  taken  from  the  terminal  to  any  one  of  the  railroad  stations  within 
the  commuting  zone  for  very  low  fees.  This  the  railroad  can  afford  to  do,  since 
it  does  not  go  outside  of  its  own  property  to  either  collect  or  deliver. 

Foodstuffs  bought  at  the  Reading  Terminal  Market  can  be  delivered  by  the  mar- 
ket men  to  the  railroad's  package  service  for  almost  no  cost,  because  the  market 
is  in  the  railroad  terminal,  and  because  all  the  goods  for  this  package  delivery  any- 
where along  the  Reading's  lines  are  received  at  the  same  place.  The  goods  are 
marked  with  the  owner's  name  and  railroad  station,  the  cost  of  the  service  is  paid 
for  by  stamps  stuck  onto  the  package  and  which  are  sold,  generally  in  quantity,  by 
the  railroad  company,  the  goods  are  dumped  into  a  receiving  bin  at  the  terminal. 
No  receipts  are  given.  So  far  as  known,  the  owner  simply  takes  a  chance,  the  same 
as  he  does  in  the  unregistered  United  States  mail.  The  goeds  are  put  off  the  train 
at  the  owner's  station  and  are  taken  from  there  by  the  owner  or  his  agent.  In 


183 


this  way  the  otherwise  very  high  costs  of  foodstuffs  in  the  suburban  places  are 
very  materially  reduced. 

Reading  Terminal  Market  is  very  fortunately  located  in  being  very  close  to  the 
heart  of  the  business,  and  also  of  the  shopping,  districts. 

In  this  city  there  is  a  good  chance  to  do  liicewise  and  thus  to  stimulate  in  an  at 
present  much  needed  way  that  uncongested  suburban  living  which,  viewed  broadly, 
is  of  so  much  importance  to  the  healthy  life  and  progress  of  this  city. 

Throughout  the  city  several  of  the  largest  retailers  have  established  chains  of 
stores,  having  one  purchasing  and  one  warehouse  and  several  branch  retail  stores. 
Most  of  these  are  cash  stores,  the  local  manager  of  which  is,  in  some  cases,  re- 
quired to  purchase  a  cash  interest  in  his  store. 

This  scheme  gives  the  retailer  the  chance  to  buy  to  much  better  advantage  than 
the  smaller  retailer  has,  but  does  not  effect  the  saving  of  expenses  which  can  be 
made  where  a  sufficiency  of  consumers  can  be  attracted  to  do  the  same  amount  of 
business  in  a  single  store. 

Many  consumers  do  not  feel  satisfied  to  pay  the  increase  in  prices  usually  charged 
over  the  wholesale  rate. 

They  seem  to  feel  that  to  buy  goods  and  then  sell  them  again  is  very  little  labor 
and  should  have  very  little  recompense.  And  this  is  somewhat  true  where  the  con- 
sumers are  in  advance  agreed  as  to  what  they  want  and  have  also  agreed  to  take 
a  sufficient  quantity  to  be  enabled  to  buy  at  wholesale. 

Accordingly,  a  number  of  the  consumers  have  in  several  places  in  this  country 
united  to  establish  cooperative  stores.  The  most  of  these  are  not  cooperative;  they 
are  simply  stock  companies,  the  stock  of  which  is  owned  by  the  consumers,  and 
the  profits  of  which  go  to  the  consumers  in  proportion  to  their  stock  and  to  the 
amount  of  their  purchases.  The  people  in  most  of  them  do  not  cooperate  either 
to  advertise  the  store,  to  bring  in  more  customers,  to  reduce  the  number  of  varieties 
of  foodstuffs  required  to  be  carried,  or  to  reduce  delivery  costs.  Most  of  them 
hire  a  storekeeper  and  the  necessary  assistants,  and  have  a  committee  who  supervise 
the  work  of  these  people. 

The  capital  stock  is  sold  often  in  limited  quantities  to  any  one  person  and  may 
sometimes  be  bought  on  time,  even  in  some  cases  out  of  the  purchaser's  dividends. 
As  generally  run,  each  purchaser  receives  a  credit  slip  for  the  amount  of  the  pur- 
chases made.  At  stated  intervals  either  the  whole  or  some  fixed  proportion  of  the 
profits  are  divided  among  the  purchasers  and  the  stockholders,  in  proportion  to  the 
credit  slips  held  by  them. 

The  idea  has  proved  highly  successful  as  applied  in  those  countries  where  it  is 
understood  and  trusted.  To  be  a  success  it  requires,  however,  actual  cooperation 
on  the  part  of  the  consumers  to  get  for  the  store  all  the  business  they  can,  and  to 
make  profits  by  agreeing  upon  a  few  varieties  of  the  different  food  products,  and 
to  reduce  expenses  by  ordering  in  quantity  and  sufficiently  in  advance  to  permit  of 
economical  assembling  and  delivering  arrangements. 

The  two  following  samples  of  replies  received  from  cooperative  stores  in  re- 
sponse to  requests  for  data  are  typical : 

For  reference  these  are  called  (M)  and  (N)  respectively: 

What  is  the  exact  name  of  your  association? 

Where  is  your  headquarters  or  main  office? 

How  many  stores  have  3'ou?    (M)  One.    (N)  One. 

Where  are  they  located? 

What  is  the  size  of  the  main  store  floor  of  each?  (M)  23'x40'.  (N)  1,000 
square  feet. 

How  much  business  was  done  in  the  year  1912  in  each?  (M)  $50,000.  (N) 
$15,000. 


184 


How  many  clerks  were  employed  in  each?    (M)  Four.    (N)  Two. 
How  many  wagons  delivering  goods  have  you?    (M)  One.    (N)  One. 
Roughly,  what  per  cent,  of  goods  sold  to  your  stores  are  carried  away  by  the 
purchasers  themselves?    (M)  10  per  cent.    (N)  20  per  cent. 
Do  you  make  a  delivery  charge?    (M)  No.     (N)  No. 
If  so,  how  much  ? 

Roughly,  how  many  deliveries  does  each  wagon  average  per  day?    (N)  Thirty-five. 

What  is  the  average  cost  of  a  delivery?    (M)  Fifteen  cents. 

What  is  the  average  value  of  goods  of  each  delivery?    (M)  $3.00. 

Or,  if  you  do  not  have  costs  so  divided,  can  you  state  the  total  delivery  expense 
in  comparison  with  the  total  value  of  the  goods  delivered?    (M)  7  per  cent.  (N)  No. 

Do  your  wagons  go  around  to  collect  orders?    (M)  Yes.    (N)  Yes. 

If  so,  what  part  of  their  time  is  so  employed?  (M)  One-third  time.  (N)  One- 
third  time. 

What  are  your  total  running  expenses  per  year?    (N)  $1,600. 

Can  you  itemize  this  into  clerk  hire?    (N)  $1,180. 

Delivery  expense?    (N)  Horse  and  team,  $112. 

Rent?    (M)  $1,600.    (N)  $216. 

Lighting?     (M)  $80.    (N)  $24. 

Advertising?    (M)  $50.    (N)  None. 

Telephones,  etc.?    (M)  $11. 

Pay  station  (rent  partly  paid  by  outsiders)  ?    (M)  $150. 
Roughly,  what  per  cent  of  your  customers  are: 

(a)  From  among  the  rich?    (M)  Very  little.    (N)  None. 

(b)  From  those  in  easy  circumstances?    (M)  60  per  cent.    (N)  None. 

(c)  From  the  middle  class?    (M)  30  per  cent.    (N)  10  per  cent. 

(d)  From  the  poor?    (M)  5  per  cent.    (N)  7  per  cent. 

(e)  From  the  very  poor?    (N)  20  per  cent. 

Roughly,  what  per  cent,  of  your  customers  of  each  class  buy  for  spot  cash? 
(M)  All.    (N)  All  run  weekly  credit. 
Do  you  handle 

Green  groceries?    (M)  Yes.    (N)  Yes. 
Dry  groceries?    (M)  Yes.    (N)  Yes. 
Fresh  meats?    (M)  Yes.    (N)  Yes. 
Milk?    (M)  Yes.    (N)  Yes. 
Coal  on  orders?    (M)  Yes.    (N)  Yes. 

Wood  on  orders?    (M)  Yes.    (N)  Yes.    Coal  not  counted  in  as  a  business. 

We  have  a  special  contract  with  a  dealer. 
Wines,  etc.?    (M)  No.    (N)  No. 
How  long  credit  do  you  give?     (M)  Very  little,  sometimes  from  pay  day  to 
pay  day.    (N)  One  week. 

How  many  shares  of  what  par  value  constitute  your  capital  stock?    (M)  10,000 
shares.    (N)  1,000  shares  (authorized),  200  sold,  of  par  value. 
How  many  stockholders  have  you?    (M)  1,328.    (N)  98. 

What  is  the  greatest  number  of  shares  you  permit  any  one  person  to  hold? 
(M)  One.    (N)  Twenty. 

How  much  of  this  total  capital  is  held  for  running  or  cash  capital?    (M)  None. 

How  is  the  cooperative  feature  applied?  (M)  Dividend  each  year,  based  on 
amount  each  stockholder  purchases.  (N)  Account  is  taken  of  stock,  etc.,  quarterly 
and  all  the  profits  over  expenses  divided  among  purchasers. 

What  is  the  approximate  percentage  of  savings  effected  on  the  gross  sales  if 
such  gross  sales  were  figured  at  the  ordinary  prices  charged  by  stores  in  your 
neighborhood?    (M)  7  per  cent. 


185 


If  there  is  a  general  distribution  of  a  certain  part  of  the  effected  savings  at 
certain  times  of  the  year,  what  has  been  the  part  so  distributed?  (M)  Not  running 
a  year  yet.    (N)  5  per  cent. 

At  what  times  in  the  year  has  this  occurred?    (N)  Quarterly. 

In  what  proportion  is  this  distribution  made  to  stockholders?  (N)  5  per  cent. 
To  non-stockholders?    (N)  2^  per  cent. 

Do  the  stockholders  receive  a  dividend  on  their  stock  apart  from  the  above- 
mentioned  distribution  of  savings?    (M)  No.    (N)  Yes. 

If  so,  what  per  cent,  has  this  been?    (N)  6  per  cent. 

Has  this  or  similar  cooperative  purchasing  scheme  in  your  vicinity  experienced 
such  rapid  growth  as  to  lead  you  to  expect  that  this  will  supplant  the  present  retail 
stores  soon?    (M)  Great  increase  in  cooperative  stores  during  past  year.    (N)  No. 

If  so,  how  soon?    (N)  Many  years. 

What  seem  to  be  the  principal  objections  to  this  cooperative  buying  and  from 
what  class  of  people  does  this  come  principally?  (N)  Hard  to  get  people  in  this- 
locality  to  understand  that  it  is  not  a  money-making  scheme. 

Do  you  buy  from 

(a)  Jobbers?    (M)  Yes.    (N)  Yes. 

(b)  Commission  dealers?    (M)  Yes.    (N)  Yes. 
or  from 

(c)  Producers?     (M)  Some.    (N)  Yes. 

And  in  what  proportion  from  each?  (a)  (N)  15  per  cent,  (b)  (N)  50  per  cent, 
(c)  (N)  35  per  cent. 

Do  you  bring  the  goods  from  market  on  your  own  wagons?    (M)  Yes.    (N)  Yes. 

Or  is  it  delivered  by  public  truckmen?    (M)  Some.    (N)  No. 

Or  by  the  trucks  of  the  commission  men?    (M)  Some.    (N)  Some. 

What  percentage  does  this  cartage  from  market  to  your  store  add  to  the  cost 
of  the  goods?    (M)  Slight.    (N)  None  directly. 

How  long  a  time  does  your  buyer  generally  have  to  spend  in  market  to  purchase 
all  the  day's  supplies?    (M)  About  two  hours  per  day.    (N)  Six  hours  weekly. 

The  percentage  of  the  total  sales  price  which  the  consumer  can  save  on  his  total 
foodstuff  purchases  is  probably  not  over  10  to  12  per  cent.,  unless  the  consumers 
combine  to  act  cooperatively  on  a  large  scale. 

It  is  proper  to  say  that  cooperative  stores  in  Great  Britain  and  in  Italy  have 
attained  immense  proportions  and  are  very  great  successes.  As  will  be  seen  from- 
the  preceding  study  of  the  retailer,  the  larger  the  business  becomes  the  more  eco- 
nomically it  can  be  run.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  those  interested  in  the 
success  of  cooperative  purchasing  should,  instead  of  establishing  many  small  stores, 
unite  just  as  far  as  possible  to  make  one  large  store,  with  which  they  would  actually 
cooperate  in  so  far  as  a  consumer  can.  The  large  foreign  cooperative  stores  make 
the  largest  part  of  their  savings,  not  out  of  the  retailing  end,  but  out  of  the  whole- 
saling, the  manufacturing  and  even  the  producing  ends.  Nevertheless,  they  started 
as  retailers. 

The  cost  of  goods  and  of  service  should  be  separated  so  that  those  who  need 
goods,  but  can  perform  the  services  for  themselves,  be  given  an  opportunity  so- 
to  do.  And  doing  this  would  appear  to  be  an  advantage  to  the  local  retailer  at  least, 
if  not  to  the  larger  stores  which  use  this  free  delivery  anywhere  as  part  of  the 
attraction  to  draw  customers  near. 

The  hard  pushed  among  the  consumers  have  just  about  so  much  to  spend  for 
foodstuffs.  If  a  considerable  part  of  this  food  supply  price  is  eaten  up  in  charges 
for  service  which  the  consumer  could,  or  even  does,  perform  himself,  it  must  be 
evident  that  he  cannot  pay  as  large  profit  on  the  foodstuffs  bought  as  if  he  were 
free  to  benefit  by  performing  his  own  delivery  and  other  services. 


186 


Packages. — The  functions  of  a  package  are: 

(a)  To  furnish  a  convenient  means  for  handling  the  goods. 

(b)  To  furnish  protection  from  physical  damage  to  the  contents. 

(c)  To  furnish  security  from  pilfering. 

(d)  To  prevent  loss  of  finely  divided  or  ground  products. 

(e)  To  furnish  a  measure  of  the  contents. 

(f)  To  furnish  ventilation  to  the  goods. 

(g)  To  furnish  a  means  whereby  the  goods  carry  marks  of  identification, 

shipping  directions,  notices  of  quality,  compliance  with  laws,  adver- 
tising, etc. 

(h)  To  insure  cleanliness  of  the  contents. 

Packages  are  of  two  general  types,  non-returnable  or  "gift"  packages,  the  whole 
cost  of  which  is  added  into  the  producer's  price,  and  returnable  packages,  for  which 
the  producer  adds  to  his  price  sufficient  to  cover  depreciation  and  the  charges  for 
returning. 

Packages  or  containers  which,  due  to  contact  with  the  foodstuffs  or  from  other 
causes  become  so  stained  or  dirtied  as  to  be  offensive  in  appearance,  dangerous  to 
the  safe  transportation  of  the  goods,  or  mutilated  in  opening,  are  generally  made 
gift  packages. 

The  charges  for  returning  consist  of  two  parts,  the  costs  of  collecting  and  ship- 
ping and  the  return  freight  costs. 

While  empty  packages  on  the  way  back  to  the  producer  are  generally  carried  by 
the  transportation  companies  for  much  lower  rates  than  would  be  charged  for  the 
same  empty  packages,  marketward  bound,  their  large  dimensions,  compared  with  their 
weight,  make  their  transportation  expensive. 

This  has  been  found  possible  to  be  overcome  in  the  case  of  some  foodstuffs  by 
collapsible  packages.  So  far  these  have  only  been  successfully  made  for  those 
articles  which  do  not  need  protection  from  physical  damage,  such  as  sacks  or  bags 
for  potatoes,  beans,  etc.,  collapsible  onion  crates.  Also  by  baskets,  like  peach 
baskets,  which  will  "nest." 

Where  the  return  haul  is  very  long  gift  packages  are  commonly  used,  anyway. 
Thus  flour  and  sugar  barrels,  although  expensive,  are  reckoned  in  as  part  of  the 
selling  price  of  these  goods  in  barrel  lots. 

Although  the  cost  of  gift  packages  becomes  part  of  the  producers'  selling  price, 
the  full  cost  of  these  packages  is  not  always  added  to  the  costs  of  the  foodstuffs 
to  the  consumer.  For  these  packages,  if  retained  by  those  who  do  not  wantonly 
destroy  them,  often  have  a  value  nearly  or  quite  equal  to  their  original  cost,  made, 
as  they  sometimes  are,  in  vast  quantities  and  where  materials  are  cheap.  The  gift 
packages  of  distant  producers  often  become  later  the  returnable  packages  of  the 
nearer-by  producer,  and  the  packages  of  certain  foodstuffs,  like  flour  and  sugar 
barrels,  furnish  a  very  considerable  part  of  the  containers  used  for  the  shipments 
of  miscellaneous  manufactured  barreled  goods  from  the  city  and  for  various  other 
purposes  in  the  city. 

In  most  cases  the  package  is  not  wasted  after  being  emptied,  but  is  used  and 
reused  until  of  no  further  value  as  a  container,  and  then  a  considerable  part  of  the 
value  of  the  material  in  it  is  recovered,  either  as  fuel  or,  as  in  the  case  of  tin  cans, 
glass  bottles,  etc.,  as  materials  from  which  to  make  new  containers  or  other  articles. 
The  labor  concerned  in  the  making  of  the  package  is,  of  course,  lost  in  the  last 
reclamation. 

Special  packages  of  a  form  not  likely  to  be  used  again  should,  therefore,  be 
constructed  with  as  little  labor  cost  as  is  possible  to  produce  a  satisfactory  package 
for  this  one  usal.    Packages,  on  the  other  hand,  of  a  generally  desirable  shape  and 


187 


capacity  and  which  will  not  by  this  first  usal  be  rendered  unfit  for  future  service 
should  be  well  made  and  of  good  materials,  for  the  value  of  the  later  service  of 
this  package  may  nearly  or  quite  offset  its  first  cost. 

Certain  foodstuffs,  such  as  table  oils,  canned  fish,  olives,  etc.,  are  often  packed 
in  very  small  containers,  to  suit  a  small  and  infrequent  demand.  Were  these  articles 
in  more  constant  use,  the  consumer  would  doubtless  buy  in  larger  packages  and 
thereby  save  money. 

Containers  made  of  costly  materials  and  workmanship,  such  as  are  sometimes 
used  for  advertising  purposes,  add  materially  to  the  cost  of  the  foodstuffs. 

In  general,  then,  containers  made  small  enough  to  meet  the  demands  of  constant 
users  need  not,  and,  when  the  savings  due  to  spoilage  losses  are  considered,  do  not, 
add  to  the  cost  paid  by  the  consumer  for  foodstuffs. 

But  where  considerable  doubt  exists  in  a  producer's  mind  as  to  whether  there 
is  sufficient  margin  in  a  particular  crop,  then  ready  for  market,  to  make  it  profitable 
to  market  it,  the  expense  for  the  containers  may,  and  often  does,  cause  a  decision 
to  let  the  crop  rot  or  to  feed  it  to  the  live  stock  rather  than- to  market  it.  This 
helps  to  keep  city  prices  high,  even  with  a  glut  in  the  nearby  country.  The  blame 
here  belongs  properly,  not  to  the  use  of  containers,  but  to  that  lack  of  market 
organization  which  by  its  uncertainties  prevents  low-priced  supplies  from  being  sent 
to  market.  Shipment  in  bulk  helps  where  the  goods  can  be  sold  in  bulk  as  shipped; 
where  they  have  to  be  packed  at  market  bulk  shipment  does  not  offer  so  much  relief. 

(a)  Foodstuffs  which  can  be  handled  by  mechanical  means  without  receiving 
serious  injury  can,  when  shipped  in  sufficient  quantities  and  to  places  equipped  with 
mechanical  means,  be  handled  more  cheaply  in  bulk.  In  all  other  places  it  is  cheaper 
to  handle  goods  put  up  in  packages  of  a  size  which  is  a  proper  load  for  one  man 
or  for  two  men  than  in  either  smaller  packages  or  in  bulk. 

When  the  number  of  handlings  which  goods  must  receive  in  even  the  most 
direct  usual  marketing — a  first  from  producer's  packing  floor,  storehouse  or  ground 
to  his  truck,  a  second  from  truck  to  car  or  boat,  a  third  from  car  or  boat  to  com- 
mission man's  truck,  a  fourth  from  truck  to  sales  floor,  etc. — is  considered  it  will 
be  seen  that  small  differences  in  handling  costs  may  easily  become  large  final  costs. 

Foodstuffs  in  piles  take  damage  first  from  pressure,  due  to  the  weight  of  the 
stuffs  above  them,  which  tends  to  burst  or  crush  them;  second  from  the  lack  of 
ventilation,  which  promotes  heating,  fermentation  and  decay.  When,  in  addition  to 
the  above,  the  chafing  and  bruising  due  to  motions  in  transit  and  the  tumbling  over, 
damaging  with  shovels,  etc.,  in  handling  from  piles  is  considered,  it  will  be  seen 
that  for  the  maintenance  of  good  quality  none  of  the  perishable  and  perhaps  only 
a  few  of  the  semi-perishable  foodstuffs  should  be  shipped  in  bulk. 

Perishable  foodstuffs  of  light  weight,  like  berries,  etc.,  are  commonly  packed  in 
shallow  containers  which  are  open  on  the  top  and  which  containers  are  packed  top 
side  up  in  a  carrier  or  crate  which  is  always  transported  top  side  up.  The  con- 
tainers are  so  supported  that  no  weight  other  than  their  own  can  come  onto  the 
goods  in  any  container.  Goods  so  packed  are  free  to  move  slightly,  but  little  damage 
results  from  this  motion  without  weight.  Perishable  stuffs  individually  heavier,  like 
peaches,  are  sometimes  shipped  in  the  same  way,  except  that  they  are  chocked  and 
covered  with  paper  to  prevent  that  motion  which  with  their  weight  would  cause 
damage,  and  also  to  prevent  the  spread  of  rot  and  other  fungous  growths  from  a 
bruised  fruit  to  an  adjacent  one.  Less  tender  foodstuffs  are  packed  in  larger  con- 
tainers up  to  the  full-sized  barrel.  Most  of  the  containers  used  have  been  evolved, 
little  by  little,  as  conditions  demanded,  so  that  the  goods  might  arrive  in  market  in 
good  condition. 

Foodstuffs  in  barrels  may  be  shipped  either  open  at  one  end  or  headed  up  at 
both.    If  open  at  one  end  and  the  stuffs  kept  below  the  ends  of  the  staves,  the 


188 


lowest  layer  of  the  contents  of  the  barrel  has  only  the  weight  of  this  barrel's  con- 
tents onto  it,  but  the  contents  are  freer  to  joggle  than  when  headed  up  at  both 
ends.  If  the  stuff  is  of  a  heavy  nature,  the  weight  and  the  freedom  to  move  may 
cause  damage.  Even  if  packed  with  considerable  pressure,  as  apples  generally  are 
when  headed  up  at  both  ends,  such  careless  handling  as  dropping  the  barrel  from 
the  end  of  a  truck,  rolling  on  their  bilges  over  rough  places,  etc.,  will  bruise  and 
damage. 

Goods  of  a  perishable  nature  can,  of  course,  be  put  on  board  cars  in  bulk  for 
less  cost  than  in  barrels,  and  in  barrels  for  less  than  in  smaller  containers,  but  this 
saving  does  not  mean  a  saving  to  the  consumer,  for,  apart  from  later  handling  costs, 
the  spoilage  and  loss  of  quality  in  transit  are  such  that  for  like  qualities  the  con- 
sumer would  have  to  pay  more. 

Semi-perishable  foodstuffs,  depending  upon  the  toughness  of  their  skins,  etc., 
take  more  or  less  damage  in  handling  in  transit.  Some,  like  potatoes,  which  do  not 
bruise  easily,  and  whose  bruises  do  not  disease  rapidly,  are  still  shipped  in  bulk  and 
then  sacked  or  barreled  at  market. 

Goods  in  bulk  have  in  the  past  commonly  been  barreled  or  sacked  by  the  com- 
mission men,  who  have  also  regraded  them.  When  brought  from  the  producer  in 
bulk  as  being  of  a  certain  standard  grade  the  tendency  has  been  to  pick  out  of  the 
lot  upon  arrival  at  market  all  those  of  the  specified  grade  and  all  those  better  than 
the  specified  grade  whose  presence  would  tend  to  bring  all  up  to  the  grade,  and  to 
reject,  to  the  producer's  loss,  all  below  grade. 

Goods  in  bulk  are  often  sold  by  the  shipper  as  being  of  a  certain  grade  and  are 
then  shipped,  subject  to  inspection  and  acceptance. 

If  when  the  goods  are  received  the  market  price  is  higher  than  when  bought, 
the  goods  are  liable  to  be  received  even  if  not  quite  up  to  grade;  but  if  the  market 
price  has  fallen,  any  imperfection  or  technicality,  sometimes  even  of  the  slightest, 
is  very  often  seized  upon  to  evade  acceptance  or  to  compel  the  shipper  to  reduce 
his  price.  This  the  shipper  who  is  miles  away  from  these  goods,  and  generally  does 
not  know  who  to  turn  to  for  help,  under  the  conditions  is  apt  to  be  forced  to  do. 

Whereas  if  these  goods  were  graded  reliably  and  so  packed  in  containers  that 
their  condition  upon  arrival  was  practically  assured,  such  sharp  practice  would  not 
be  possible. 

Many  of  the  larger  packages  still  in  use  by  the  less  progressive  producers  are 
relics  of  that  past  wherein  large  losses  by  spoilage  were  expected,  even  for  short 
hauls  and  short  seasons. 

The  present  requirements  for  goods  to  arrive  in  perfect  condition  after  being 
shipped  thousands  of  miles,  and  of  having  their  seasons  greatly  lengthened  by  care- 
ful storage  and  handling,  have  necessitated  one  change  after  another  in  the  size  and 
shape  of  the  package  and  in  the  method  of  packing. 

The  packages  used  by  the  commission  men  were  commonly  too  large  for  the  con- 
sumer to  buy,  this  necessitating  a  rehandling  and  repacking  by  the  retailer.  The 
costs  of  both  these  repackings  ran  high.  Also  there  is  always  a  considerable  uncer- 
tainty as  to  the  condition  of  the  goods  in  the  bottom  of  large  tight-sided  packages, 
even  where  honestly  packed.  The  inability  to  see  the  condition  of  all  of  the  goods 
makes  their  purchase  somewhat  of  a  gamble,  the  expense  of  which  is  not  borne  by 
the  middlemen. 

The  goods  suffer  severely  in  condition  in  these  rehandlings  and  repackings  and 
lose  their  identity,  which,  where  trial  previous  to  purchase  is  not  allowed,  is  often 
the  consumer's  main  guarantee  of  quality. 

Actuated  by  these  considerations,  the  producers  through  their  associations  are 
adopting  one  after  another  packages  of  such  small  size  that  the  consumer  buys  in 


189 


the  original  package  which  bears  the  mark  and  guarantee  of  the  producer's  asso- 
ciation. 

These  packages  are  commonly  of  such  shape  as  to  display  the  goods  as  com- 
pletely as  possible,  thus  eliminating  the  necessity  of  handling  the  goods  to  ascertain 
quality  and  condition.  These  small  packages  may  or  may  not  be  crated  into  larger 
ones  for  more  economical  handling. 

Not  only  the  perishable  foodstuffs  but  semi-perisliables,  such  as  apples  and  pota- 
toes, are  now  being  sold  this  way,  with  the  result  that  the  producer  gets  a  larger 
share  of  the  consumer's  expenditure  for  foodstufTs,  that  there  is  much  less  waste, 
and  that  the  retailer  and  commission  men,  while  receiving  a  smaller  share  of  the 
consumer's  expenditure,  perhaps  make  at  least  as  much  money.  They  can  sell  much 
more  stuff  with  the  same  effort  in  the  same  time. 

As  to  quantity,  shape  and  size,  packages  are  still  most  various.  Attempts  have 
been  made  by  both  federal  and  state  laws  to  control  the  size  of  containers,  but  no 
uniformity  of  package  has  yet  resulted. 

In  some  markets,  such  as  Boston,  most  goods,  etc.,  are  handled  in  bushel  boxes. 
Each  market  has  a  tendency  in  the  case  of  each  foodstuff  to  demand  that  size  and 
shape  of  package  to  which  its  retailers  are  accustomed.  But  this  requirement,  it  has 
been  proven,  is  readily  changed  when  a  really  desirable  package  appears. 

Packages  should  contain  a  definite  and  easily  ascertainable  quantity. 

Since  the  round-cornered,  sloping-sided  shapes  commonly  used  do  not  permit 
comparisons  to  be  superficially  made  with  reasonable  accuracy,  the  quantity  contained 
should  be  plainly  printed  on  the  package.  This  is  being  done  by  many  of  the  asso- 
ciations now  as  a  matter  of  good  business  sense.  Quantity  is  measured  by  either 
count,  volume  or  weight. 

For  small  quantities  of  articles  of  a  large  individual  size  direct  count  by  either 
the  piece,  dozen,  score,  gross  or  hundred  is  quite  satisfactory,  but  only  when  proper 
standards  of  size  and  other  qualities  are  observed.  For  larger  quantities  individual 
pieces  are  by  count  bundled  or  crated  and  the  bundles  or  crates  sold  by  count. 

Quantity  is  measured  by  volume  either  directly,  as  when  a  measure  is  filled  and 
emptied,  or  incidentally  as  when  goods  are  packed  in  containers  of  known  sizes. 
The  first  method  is  only  used  for  small  quantity;  the  latter  is  used  nominally  very 
generally,  actually  not  so  much.  Thus  grain  and  potatoes  in  bulk  or  carloads,  while 
nominally  sold  by  the  bushel,  are  often  actually  measured  for  convenience  by  weight. 
This  is  easily  done  with  a  track  scale,  the  weight  of  the  car  itself  being  known. 

The  legal  weight  of  a  bushel  of  each  of  the  ordinary  grains  and  vegetables  and 
of  some  fruits  has  been  established  for  the  State  of  New  York  by  Chapter  20  of 
the  Consolidated  Laws  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

Other  states  have  established  other  legal  weights  which  in  some  cases  are  dif- 
ferent from  those  of  New  York  State. 

Unless  the  size  of  the  individual  piece  is  small,  as  compared  with  the  size  of  the 
measure  used,  a  quantity  measurement  by  volume  is  liable  to  be  quite  inaccurate. 
In  such  cases,  to  protect  the  consumer,  the  law  requires  that  goods  be  retailed  by 
the  heaped  measure.  This  accounts  in  some  part  for  the  increase  in  cost  which  is 
put  upon  some  foodstuffs  by  the  retailer  who  buys  by  the  struck  bushel  of  32  quarts, 
out  of  which  he  can  generally  honestly  get  only  24  "heaped"  quarts  in  selling,  an 
apparent  increase  right  here  in  prices  of  25  per  cent,  figured  on  the  selling  price, 
or  of  33  1-3  per  cent,  figured  on  the  cost  to  retailer.  In  many  localities,  to  overcome 
this,  foodstuffs  are  retailed  by  weight. 

It  is  important  that  any  goods  exposed  for  sale  to  purchasers  who  are  not  well 
posted  as  to  the  grades  of  such  goods  should  be  plainly  marked  once  for  all  by 
some  reliable  and  responsible  party.  The  package  gives  a  convenient  and  some- 
what lasting  means  for  the  proper  display  of  a  marking  of  this  character. 


190 

Loss  in  transit  in  bulk  shipment,  while  not  properly  a  part  of  the  subject  of 
packages,  is  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  adoption  of  packages.  Custom,  in  some 
cases  supported  hy  legal  decisions,  has  settled  upon  certain  percentages  of  the  total 
amount  shipped  which  shall  be  allowed  by  the  shipper  as  loss  in  transit. 

The  Wholesale  Market— GenerzWy  speaking,  all  who  "buy  to  sell  again"  are 
considered  entitled  to  buy  at  wholesale.  There  is,  therefore,  among  these  buyers 
more  diversity  in  the  size  of  the  single  purchase  than  there  is  among  the  consumers. 

As  has  been  pointed  out  under  the  "Producer,"  producing  conditions  require 
that  a  crop  be  grown  in  large  quantities  of  a  sort,  and  shipping  conditions  often 
require  a  still  further  aggregation.  Few  retailers  buy  in  as  large  quantities  as  the 
producer  has  ready  to  market  at  a  time,  and  still  fewer  retailers  buy  in  as  large 
quantities  as  those  in  which  the  shipments  really  come  to  market. 

Some  retailers  when  buying  in  market  prefer  to  go  from  stand  to  stand,  buying 
the  whole  or  part  of  their  day's  supply  of  one  article  in  one  place,  and  of  another 
in  another;  others  prefer  to  buy  a  large  portion  of  their  day's  supply  in  the  one 
place.  It  comes  about  thus  that  the  wholesalers  who  sell  the  retailers  seldom  handle 
one  article  exclusively,  and  that  each  has,  therefore,  a  tendency  to  handle  unaided 
only  the  smaller  shipments.  To  distribute  the  larger  shipments  among  the  various 
wholesalers  and  jobbers  the  services  of  a  group  of  men  sometimes  known  as  re- 
ceivers or  as  brokers  are  found  desirable.  These  men  sell  large  quantities,  in  gen- 
eral do  no  handling  or  resorting,  and  can  therefore  perform  their  service  without 
adding  much  to  the  cost  of  the  goods. 

Since  they  do  not  in  general  deal  with  the  retailers  at  all,  they  escape  that  jealousy 
and  distrust  which  a  wholesaler  is  apt  to  encounter  when  trying  to  sell  to  a  com- 
petitor a  part  of  a  large  shipment;  and,  by  enjoying  to  some  extent  the  confidence 
of  the  wholesalers,  the  receiver  or  broker  is  enabled  to  gauge  their  needs  and  there- 
fore to  sell  more  readily.  Certain  foodstui¥s  which  have  to  be  prepared  before  the 
consumer  will  buy  are  sold  by  these  brokers  to  the  large  manufacturers.  Thus, 
grain,  coffee,  sugar,  etc.,  are  distributed. 

This  distributing  is  performed  under  quite  different  surroundings  for  different 
articles. 

Well  standardized  foodstuffs  are  traded  in  at  Exchanges.  The  goods  have  been 
graded  and  possibly  sampled  by  skilled  inspectors,  generally  officially  connected  with 
the  Exchange,  and  are  sold  on  the  floor  of  the  Exchange  by  the  gradings  thus  given 
and  sometimes  by  sample.  The  goods  themselves  are  meantime  either  in  transit  at 
termini  or,  in  some  cases,  in  storage. 

Goods  for  which  standard  gradings  have  not  been  so  well  established  are  sold 
by  grade,  subject  to  inspection  at  delivery. 

The  cost  of  this  service  is  generally  somewhere  about  2  per  cent,  of  the  sales 
price,  charged  as  in  the  case  of  potatoes  at  a  fixed  price  per  bushel  (at  present  about 
1  cent  per  bushel),  and  in  case  of  canned  goods  at  2  per  cent,  of  the  sales  price. 

Sales  are  made  in  this  way  generally  to  jobbers  or  wholesalers,  who  buy  the 
goods  outright  and  then  sell  them  again  to  the  retailers,  making  for  themselves  what 
profits  the  prevailing  market  prices  at  the  time  of  these  sales  permit. 

These  jobbers  or  wholesalers  do  perform  a  certain  amount  of  useful  service, 
for  which  they  must  be  paid,  but  the  amount  of  pay  taken  when  opportunity  offers 
as  compared  with  the  service  rendered  and  the  method  of  taking  the  pay  cause  them 
often  to  be  classed  as  speculators. 

In  some  cases  these  jobbers  or  wholesalers,  by  going  into  distant  fields,  secure 
supplies  for  an  otherwise  partially  unsupplied  market,  but  this  function  could  be 
performed  just  as  well  by  the  energetic  action  of  reliable  and  efficient  commission 
men. 

The  necessity  for  this  distribution  to  the  wholesalers  who  sell  the  retailers  is 


191 


greatest  in  the  case  of  most  "perishable"  goods  sent  in  large  shipments.  The  unit 
for  most  shipments  is  the  carload,  and  this  quantity  of  most  foodstuffs  is  easily 
within  the  capacity  of  most  commission  men.  If,  therefore,  commission  men  were 
all  properly  trustworthy,  instead  of  one  large  shipment  several  shipments  of,  say 
a  carload  each,  could  be  made  to  different  commission  men  in  the  same  market. 

It  has  been  urged  against  this  that  a  wise  man  will  not  place  part  of  his  goods 
in  competition  with  another  part;  but  unless  some  one  jobber  is  found  who  will 
purchase  and  sell  the  whole  shipment  to  the  retailers,  the  goods  are  really  placed 
in  competition  by  the  various  jobbers  or  wholesalers  who  have  bought  them,  anyway. 
Besides  this,  a  large  proportion  of  the  retailers  as  yet  pay  little  attention  to  brands, 
even  where  brands  are  used,  but  buy  by  their  own  judgment  as  to  quality.  This 
tends  to  reduce  the  directness  of  the  comparison  of  prices,  and  therefore  by  that 
much  to  withdraw  the  goods  from  competition  with  themselves  even  though  offered 
by  different  sellers  to  the  same  buyers. 

All  sales,  of  course,  consist  of  three  essential  parts,  an  oft'er,  an  acceptance,  and 
an  exchange  of  the  goods  and  their  agreed  upon  equivalent. 

If  the  offer  and  acceptance,  constituting  the  agreement  of  sale,  are  made  privately, 
the  sale  is  a  private  sale;  if  made  publicly,  it  is  a  public  sale.  In  all  public  sales  the 
goods  go  to  the  highest  bidder;  but  there  are  two  ways  of  bidding — one,  openly  by 
voice  or  motion,  so  that  all  present  can  know  at  once  how  much  was  bid  and  by 
whom  and  can  raise  the  price  to  the  limit  which  they  are  willing  to  give;  the  other 
by  written  tender,  made  simultaneously  by  all  bidders  and  opened  and  awarded, 
generally  publicly.  In  this  latter  type  of  public  sale  the  bidders  have  no  guidance  as 
to  what  to  bid  from  the  bids  made  by  their  competitors. 

There  are  advantages  and  disadvantages  to  both  of  these  ways  of  bidding;  both 
are  in  use  and  both  have  their  adherents. 

Collusion  and  conspiracy  are  possible  under  both  forms,  the  main  safeguard 
against  this  being  in  a  large  number  of  bidders. 

If  in  a  market  but  one  public  sale  is  in  progress  at  a  time,  all  bidders  must 
await  the  putting  on  sale  of  the  articles  they  desire  and  their  own  successful  bidding 
to  secure  the  goods  they  desire;  and  if  several  public  sales  are  in  progress  simul- 
taneously or  nearly  so,  the  bidders  must  attend  such  as  they  can  of  those  offering 
the  goods  they  desire,  being  hampered  in  their  movements  by  the  necessity  of  wait- 
ing until  their  highest  bid  in  each  sale  has  received  consideration. 

These  many  men  who  have  to  wait  for  the  completion  of  each  public  sale  could, 
in  the  same  time,  have  completed  a  considerable  number  of  private  sales. 

The  auction  sales  of  fruits  are  conducted  with  perhaps  as  much  dispatch  as  any 
public  sales.  The  goods  are  on  view  by  sample  in  a  place  nearby  to  where  the  auction 
is  held;  printed  slips,  freely  distributed  to  all  attending  the  sale,  give  the  date,  time, 
and  place  of  the  auction,  and  on  whose  account  the  goods  are  sold,  the  marks  shown 
on  the  samples,  the  quantities  in  each  lot  to  be  sold  at  one  time,  and  the  number  of 
that  lot. 

The  auctioneers  call  aloud,  gradually  increasing  prices,  agreement  to  buy  at  the 
price  named  being  given  by  a  raise  of  the  purchaser's  hand  or  other  understood 
signal  visible  to  the  auctioneer  or  his  assistants. 

The  average  time  required  for  the  auction  of  any  one  lot  is  one-half  minute. 

While  many  of  the  lots  offered  are  small  enough  to  be  easily  within  the  usual 
purchasing  capacity  of  retailers,  these  sales  are  attended  by  very  few  retailers  in- 
deed, the  usual  purchasers  being  jobbers  or  dealers,  and  sometimes  a  few  hotel  men. 

It  is  seldom  that  a  retailer  has  less  than  a  dozen  different  articles  to  buy  at  a 
market,  and  often  he  has  many  more. 

If,  of  the  city's  11,000  retail  grocers  and  the  very  many  additional  fruit  and 
vegetable  dealers  and  peddlers  there  come  to  one  of  the  city's  markets  in  one  day, 


192 


750  separate  buyers,  each  with  12  articles  to  buy,  it  will  be  seen  that  if  all  the  goods 
were  sold  at  a  single  auction  sale  it  would  take  75  hours  to  complete  this  sale;  if  a 
dozen  separate  sales  were  running  at  once,  6^4  hours  would  be  required  to  complete 
€ach. 

The  average  retail  grocer  goes  to  market  each  day  in  the  season  when  fruits  and 
vegetables  are  most  plentiful,  every  other  day  or  still  less  often  when  fruits,  etc., 
are  not  so  plentiful.  He  starts  early  and  aims  to  leave  market  in  time  to  get  the 
purchases  to  his  store  by  or  before  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.  He  spends  in 
market  from  one  to  two  hours,  and  in  driving  to  and  from  market  as  long  as  he 
must.  This  means  that  if  his  store  is  far  from  the  market  he  must  leave  market 
earlier  than  if  his  store  were  nearby. 

The  market  price  of  goods  of  the  same  sort  and  quality  varies  not  only  from 
day  to  day,  but  from  hour  to  hour. 

The  daily  variation  and  some  part  of  the  hourly  variation  depend  upon  the 
demand  and  the  supply.  This  is  judged  by  marketmen,  by  the  way  the  market 
cleans  up.  If  the  demand  for  any  article  is  strong  and  the  supply  put  on  sale  is 
exhausted,  the  price  thereof  in  the  next  market  has  a  tendency  to  rise,  and  will  rise 
unless  more  than  the  average  supply  is  brought  into  market. 

If  the  market  on  these  goods  opens  "strong,"  that  is,  if  high  prices  thereon  are 
being  asked  and  paid  when  the  market  opens  and  only  a  small  extra  supply  is  brought 
into  the  market,  the  market  price  thereof  will  rise.  But  often  a  small  additional  rise 
of  price  will  put  on  the  market  a  large  supply  of  goods  which  have  been  held  in 
storage  under  orders  to  be  sold  when  the  price  reaches  a  set  figure. 

The  market  is  thus  during  its  active  time  governed  in  a  certain  way  by  demand 
and  supply.  But  after  the  main  bulk  of  the  trading  has  been  completed  there  is  always 
a  considerable  quantity  of  goods  on  hand  which  are  sacrificed.  These  are  either  all- 
right  goods  held  by  people  who  are  anxious  to  be  rid  of  them,  such  as  farmers  who 
■do  not  care  to  cart  back  to  the  farms  their  unsold  goods,  or  goods  of  which  so 
little  are  left  as  not  to  be  attractive  to  the  ordinary  retailer,  or  else  goods  which 
by  the  next  market  may  be  in  unsalable  condition.  Selling  of  this  sort  starts 
late,  generally  not  before  10  o'clock  a.  m. 

These  are  bought  largely  by  certain  peddlers,  pushcart  men,  and  sometimes  by 
consumers. 

A  few  of  the  large  cash  stores  (retail  markets)  that  have  good  storage  facilities 
also  make  a  practice  of  buying  in  this  way,  sending  their  motor  trucks  and  buyers 
around  to  the  various  markets. 

The  difiference  in  price  many  times  is  quite  marked,  goods  being  sold  in  many 
cases  for  a  small  fraction  of  their  market  price. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  retailer  who,  because  of  his  long  distance  from 
market  must  leave  market  early  to  get  his  goods  on  sale  in  his  own  store  in  time, 
suffers  because  of  this  distance,  losses  not  only  due  to  higher  transportation  costs 
and  to  deterioration  of  goods  in  this  transportation,  but  also  due  to  having  less 
time  in  market  in  which  to  benefit  by  market  price  changes. 

The  retailer  who  is  buying  most  perishable  goods  cannot  improve  this  buying 
condition  by  coming  to  market  later,  unless  he  provides  at  his  store  such  cool  or 
cold  storage  facilities  as  will  enable  him  to  keep  over  from  the  previous  day  suffi- 
cient goods  for  his  morning  trade. 

Retailers  vary  considerably  in  their  buying  habits  in  market.  Some  of  the  retail 
grocers  seem  to  deal  nearly  or  quite  exclusively  with  a  single,  or  at  most  a  few 
commission  men,  or  dealers  from  whom  they  may  buy  on  credit.  Others  go  out 
and  bargain  with  farmers,  commission  men,  and  dealers  or  speculators,  generally 
for  cash.  The  fruit  and  vegetable  men  and  peddlers  are  generally  much  sharper 
and  more  energetic  buyers  than  the  retail  grocers. 


193 


The  farmers  hold  their  prices  up  to  nearly  or  quite  what  the  commission  men  or 
dealers  ask,  but  in  general  offer  no  credit  accommodations.  They  will  often  sell 
a  speculator  sufficiently  below  the  market  price  to  enable  him  to  sell  their  goods 
in  the  same  market  in  competition  with  themselves.  This  seeming  foolishness  is 
committed  most  often  when  the  farmer  has  a  large  amount  of  one  article  which, 
due  to  uncertainties  of  the  market,  he  fears  may  be  left  on  his  truck  unsold  at  the 
close  of  the  market. 

The  retailer  exhibits  in  his  buying  many  of  the  characteristics  of  the  buying 
consumer.  He  has,  of  course,  a  much  better  knowledge  of  the  goods,  but  has  ahead 
of  him  a  much  more  complex  problem. 

In  market,  he  journeys  back  and  forth  and  around,  pricing  such  goods  as  he 
desires  and  his  eye  sees,  and  sometimes  being  conducted  to  the  interior  of  one 
of  the  stores  or  booths  to  see  goods  which  the  marketman  believes  would  interest 
him.  Almost  all  of  the  selling  is  done  on  the  street  level  and  immediately  adjacent 
to  the  public  ways  in  the  market.  The  second  floors  of  the  market  buildings  have 
so  far  been  of  use  only  for  storage  purposes. 

Most  of  the  retailers  have  immediate  need  of  their  purchases,  and  to  get  these 
without  delay  and  without  danger  of  substitution  they  come  to  market  in  their  own 
wagons.  Many  of  them  will  come  this  way,  in  all  probability,  unless  extreme  diffi- 
culties are  placed  in  the  way  of  so  doing,  at  least  until  retail  stores  become  equipped 
with  cool  or  cold  storage  adapted  to  carrying  over  sufficient  of  the  "most  perishable" 
goods  to  keep  the  store  supplied  until  the  delivery  wagon  from  the  market  can  reach 
them. 

In  some  markets  the  retailer  drives  back  and  forth  in  his  own  wagon  and  buys 
from  the  wagon.  In  others  he  leaves  his  wagon  in  front  of  the  stand  of  some 
dealer  or  commission  man,  generally  the  man  from  whom  he  buys  most,  and  goes 
around  on  foot.  His  purchases  are  then  brought  to  this  place  by  the  market  carriers, 
men  who,  with  large  push  carts,  collect  the  goods  bought  and  take  them  for  a  fee 
to  the  retailer's  wagon  in  the  market. 

If  sufficient  facilities  for  transferring  goods  cheaply  were  supplied,  and  if  a 
large  number  of  dealers,  etc.,  could  be  induced  to  open  up  on  some  floor  other  than 
the  street  level — all  at  the  same  time — such  other  floor  might  have  value  as  market 
space,  but  unless  some  such  concerted  action  were  taken  such  other  floor  would 
probably  have  little  value  as  trading  space  in  the  market. 

The  better  established  retailers,  apart  from  the  large  cash  stores,  seem  to  be 
content  to  purchase  at  as  good  prices  as  their  competitors  get;  but  the  big  cash 
stores  and  the  small  retailers  buy  just  as  close  as  they  can. 

Prices  in  market  of  any  commodity  may,  as  has  already  been  shown,  be  set  or 
made : 

(a)  By  a  process  of  private  offers  and  refusals  guided  in  large  part  by  the 
generally  rumored  or  generally  known  available  supply  and  the  demand,  as  shown 
by  the  way  the  available  goods  at  the  previous  market  were  bought  up. 

(b)  By  the  prices  bid  in  public  auction  sales. 

(c)  By  prices  set  each  day  by  experts  who  make  a  study  of  the  available  supply 
and  the  expected  demand. 

The  making  of  prices  is  one  of  the  most  important  functions  of  a  market  and 
one  which  is  becoming  more  important  daily. 

The  determination  arrived  at  by  method  (a)  is  only  roughly  approximate  different 
prices  commonly  holding  at  the  same  moment  in  different  markets  in  the  same  city, 
and  even  in  different  parts  of  the  same  market. 

The  constant  bargaining,  haggling,  and  persuading  used  in  this  method  of  price 
establishment  consumes  a  great  deal  of  time  and  of  energy,  which  is  not  so  lost 
in  method  (b)  ;  but,  as  pointed  out,  method  (b),  is  too  slow  for  general  adoption. 


194 


Method  (c)  offers  a  chance  for  manipulation  which  is  really  dangerous.  That 
it  has  been  honestly  and  efficiently  used  by  the  concern  that  has  for  many  years 
set  prices  in  this  way  for  the  New  York  Markets,  is  attested  by  the  esteem  in  which 
such  prices  are  held;  and  that  the  labor  of  making  or  helping  to  make  prices  and 
of  attending  market  for  that  purpose  is  burdensome  is  further  attested  by  the  large 
numbers  of  buyers  and  of  sellers  who  use  the  prices  so  established. 

The  figures  published  by  these  people  give  the  general  highest  and  lowest  prices 
for  each  article  or  for,  where  established,  certain  grades  of  each  article.  They  do 
not  and  cannot  give  prices  on  grades  where  these  grades  have  not  been  clearly 
defined  and  established,  and  they  therefore  give  on  such  goods  much  less  exact 
guidance  than  they  otherwise  could.  Where,  on  certain  goods  the  price  limit  as 
quoted  shows  a  variation  of  50  per  cent,  or  more  of  the  lower  price  for  different 
qualities,  too  much  is  left  to  the  imagination. 

For  the  guidance  of  marketmen  as  to  crop  conditions,  available  supply,  etc., 
several  market  papers  are  published.  The  information  in  these  helps  to  extend  the 
outlook  beyond  that  given  by  the  goods  actually  received  or  in  transit,  and  has  some 
effect  in  making  prices  of  the  less  perishable  foodstuffs. 

The  prices  of  many  articles  of  foodstuff,  especially  of  those  which  require  prepara- 
tion that  the  consumer  cannot  ordinarily  give,  are  modified  only  to  a  slight  degree 
by  the  action  of  the  market  where  these  are  sold  to  the  retailer.  The  consumers' 
demands  are  pretty  well  known  to  the  large  concerns  doing  this  preparing,  and  their 
prices  to  the  retailers  are  governed  by  these  and  by  the  costs  to  themselves,  generally 
in  distant  markets,  of  the  raw  materials.  Sugar,  coffee,  tea,  flour,  and  to  a  very 
considerable  extent  meats,  and  all  manner  of  canned  (including  bottled)  foodstuffs, 
come  under  this  head. 

And  finally  a  few  important  articles  which  are  not  given  preparation  that  the 
consumer  cannot  ordinarily  give  are  at  present  under  the  domination  of  dealers  who 
are  sufficiently  powerful  to,  in  large  degree,  control  prices.    Such  are  butter  and  eggs. 

The  Commission  Man. — Primarily  the  commission  man  was  the  agent  of  the 
shipper,  employed  to  receive  the  goods  shipped;  to  cart  them  to  market;  to  pick 
over  and  repack;  to  sell  for  as  high  a  price  as  he  was  able  to  get;  to  collect  the 
moneys  from  such  sale,  and  to  remit  the  same  to  the  shipper. 

His  compensation  for  so  doing  was  in  some  cases  a  set  price  per  quantity  of 
goods  sold,  but  more  generally  as  an  incentive  to  securing  higher  prices  it  was  a 
fixed  percentage  of  the  total  gross  sales  price. 

The  commission  man  is  employed,  first,  because  the  shipper  is  unable  to  be  at 
market  to  attend  to  the  caring  for  and  selling  of  his  own  goods,  and  second,  because, 
even  if  the  shipper  could  be  present,  he  has  not  there  the  facilities  necessary  for 
properly  handHng  and  marketing  his  goods. 

The  commission  man  in  markets,  as  at  present  organized,  thus  stands  usefully 
between  the  shipper  and  the  retailer  or  jobber.  Commission  men  have  their  patrons 
or  customers,  shippers  who  deal  with  them  regularly  or  occasionally.  They  have 
each  their  lists  of  these  shippers  of  each  commodity  handled,  and  when  the  market 
gives  indications  of  good  prices  in  any  commodity  they  send  out  large  numbers  of 
notices  thereof  to  their  shippers. 

The  indications  may  be  so  pronounced  that  every  commission  man  on  the  market 
has  notified  his  patrons  at  the  same  time,  or  these  indications  may  only  be  the 
fancy  of  some  one  commission  man. 

The  response  to  these  notices  depends  upon  the  relative  strength  of  the  hope  of 
gain  awakened  in  the  shippers  by  the  appeal  of  this  as  compared  with  other  markets, 
as  determined  by  their  judgments  as  to  the  net  returns  to  be  expected  for  their 
goods. 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  foretell  how  large  the  shipments  will  be  in  response  to 


195 


such  an  appeal  and,  in  consequence,  a  fairly  general  appeal  made  on  good  judgment 
and  in  good  faith,  may,  and  often  has,  resulted  in  a  flooded  market  and  a  loss  for 
all  except  those  shippers  whose  goods  got  there  first. 

Commission  men  may  be  divided  into  commission  men  proper  and  receivers. 

The  receiver  is  a  wholesale  commission  man,  one  who  receives  and  sells  in  large 
lots  only.  He  does  not  regrade,  repack,  and  expose  for  view  as  the  ordinary  com- 
mission man.  He  sells  by  sample  or  by  standard  gradings,  where  these  exist,  and  to 
either  the  very  large  users,  the  large  retailers,  or  to  the  jobbers. 

The  commission  man  receives  and  sells  in  smaller  lots,  carts,  regrades,  repacks, 
and  has  a  stand  or  store  in  which  goods  are  exposed  for  sale. 

The  commission  man  receives  goods  which  are  often  not  up  to  standard,  which  have 
often  been  poorly  packed,  poorly  cared  for  previous  to  packing  and  in  transit,  which 
have  often  been  delayed  in  transit.  He  sells  on  a  market  which,  while  it  averages 
to  certain  prices  in  a  day,  rises  above  and  drops  below  these  average  prices.  He 
often  stands  between  a  wilful  and  ignorant  shipper  and  a  somewhat  capricious 
buyer.  And,  even  if  perfectly  honest,  he  sometimes  is  suspected  unjustly.  He  is 
in  competition  for  customers  or  patrons  with  other  commission  men,  many  of  whom 
do  not  scruple  to  attract  patrons  by  foul  means  where  fair  would  not  succeed.  And 
very  often  where  he  cannot  get  a  satisfactorily  sufficient  volume  of  business  sent 
to  him  on  a  commission  basis,  he  is  under  the  necessity  of  buying  from  the  pro- 
ducer or  shipper;  and  thereafter  of  placing  his  own  goods  in  competition  with 
those  of  his  patrons  when  selling  to  the  retailers.  Above  and  over  all,  he  repre- 
sents patrons  who  seldom  come  to  market,  and  still  more  seldom  take  the  trouble 
to  inform  themselves  accurately  as  to  the  real  costs  of  the  various  operations  to 
be  performed  under  the  conditions  of  promptness  of  service  compelled  by  the 
perishability  of  the  goods  and  the  requirements  to  avoid  congestion  at  terminals  and 
markets,  but  who,  nevertheless,  often  voice  the  feeling  that  they  are  not  honestly 
treated.  It  takes  a  man  of  extreme  convictions  as  to  honesty  to  continue  to  live 
entirely  unperverted  year  in  and  year  out  under  these  conditions,  associating  with 
other  commission  men,  some,  at  least,  of  whom  are  not  honest,  yet  who  profit  by 
their  lack,  and  are  even  honored  for  their  smartness. 

It  is  no  secret  that  many  commission  men  are  not  even  moderately  honest,  but  the 
fault  is  cumulative  and,  as  just  pointed  out,  quite  a  few  of  the  conditions  which  make 
strongly  for  this  dishonesty  are  not  of  the  commission  man's  making.  The  power 
of  the  law  can,  of  course,  be  invoked  to  punish,  but  to  obtain  a  really  satisfactory 
working  condition  the  producer  or  shipper  must  keep  himself  informed  in  every  case 
as  to  the  full  details  of  what  happened  to  his  goods  from  the  time  they  were  received 
until  sold.  This  the  shipper  is  at  the  present  time  unable  to  do,  because  of  the  lack 
of  records  kept  by  the  commission  men. 

Trucking  in  City  Streets. — The  total  time  required  to  transfer  goods  from  one 
point  to  another  is  composed  of  two  items,  the  times  required  to  get  the  goods  onto, 
and  later  to  deliver  them  off  of  the  vehicle  employed,  and  the  time  required  in  transit 
between  these  points  of  receipt  and  delivery. 

The  times  required  to  get  the  goods  onto  the  vehicle  and  later  to  deliver  them  off 
varies  greatly,  not  only  as  between  different  receiving  or  delivering  points,  but  also 
as  between  the  same  point  at  different  times  of  the  day.  While,  by  sufficient  study, 
a  curve  expressive  of  the  usual  daily  variation  of  this  required  time  could  be  plotted 
for  any  particular  receiving  point,  it  in  general  is  not  profitable  to  do  so,  because  the 
loss  of  time  at  receiving  or  delivering  points  can  be  reduced  to  almost  any  desired 
limit  by  the  expenditure  of  sufficient  money  to  provide  the  requisite  facilities.  If, 
therefore,  new  receiving  and  delivering  facilities  are  to  be  planned,  they  should  not 
be  formulated  to  ideals  of  what  constitutes  fair  service  as  drawn  from  previous  bad 
experiences,  but  should  rather  be  governed  by  an  equating  of  the  total  costs  of  the 


196 


receiving  or  delivery  delays,  to  or  writh  the  interest,  maintenance,  labor,  etc.,  charges 
of  the  facilities. 

As  will  be  seen,  this  is  properly  a  part  of  the  planning  of  terminals. 

The  time  required  in  transit:  Vehicles  in  crowded  streets  must  move  in  nearby 
continuous  lines,  one  vehicle  following  another.  The  speed  of  any  portion  of  a 
line  is  therefore  limited  by  that  of  the  slowest  vehicle  ahead  of  that  portion  of  the 
line. 

Where  streets  are  of  sufiicient  width  to  permit  of  the  establishment  of  separate 
lines  for  slow  and  for  fast  moving  vehicles,  the  traffic  capacity  of  such  street  can 
thereby  be  much  increased. 

Vehicular  Speeds. — From  time  studies  made  therefor,  the  highest  rate  of  speed 
which  can  be  expected  from  moderately  laden  horse-drawn  vehicles  on  level  paved 
streets  is  300  feet  per  minute,  equal  to  3.4  miles  per  hour.  This  speed  is  a  fast  walk 
which  could  be  made  by  most  of  the  grocers'  wagons  which  go  to  market. 

Heavily  laden  trucks  drawn  by  heavy  draft  horses  do  not  make,  as  an  average 
speed,  over  220  feet  per  minute,  equal  to  2j4  miles  per  hour. 

Automobile  trucks  can  and  do  maintain  much  higher  speeds.  But,  as  speeds  be- 
come higher,  the  clear  distance  between  vehicles  in  the  same  line  must  be  increased 
to  prevent  the  sudden  stoppage  of  a  vehicle,  causing  it  to  be  rammed  by  its  follower. 

While,  therefore,  an  automobile  truck  can  easily  maintain  a  speed  of  12  miles 
per  hour,  a  space  of  at  least  its  own  length  should  be  left  between  each  two  vehicles 
in  the  line,  thus  reducing  the  speed  for  purposes  of  comparison  to  about  6  miles  per 
hour. 

While  the  horse  as  a  source  of  haulage  power  is  undoubtedly  tending  to  pass 
away,  yet,  within  that  future  time  to  which  this  study  must  refer,  the  horse  will 
still  be  with  us  in  sufficient  numbers  to  govern  traffic. 

Break-downs. — Delays  due  to  break-downs  seriously  reduce  the  capacity  of  a 
street,  but  as  these  are  not  of  daily  occurrence,  and  when  they  do  occur  cause  quite 
different  amounts  of  delay  in  different  cases,  no  account  has  here  been  taken  of  them. 

The  Traffic  Capacity  of  Streets. — The  width  of  the  roadway  and  of  the  sidewalks 
of  city  streets  have  been  regulated  by  a  resolution  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and 
Apportionment,  adopted  December  23,  1909. 

Many  of  the  city  streets  are  not  in  accordance  with  this,  but  for  purposes  of 
comparison,  assuming  streets  which  are,  the  following  table  of  roadway  and  of 
sidewalk  widths  is  shown  for  the  given  total  street  widths  (page  199)  . 

In  most  places,  vehicles  are  not  permitted  to  cross  the  curb  line,  except  at  special 
driveways  into  buildings ;  but  in  a  few  districts  the  curb  has  been  replaced  by  a 
gutter  and  vehicles  are  backed  up  against  platforms  built  at  the  height  of  the  truck 
floors  above  the  street.  This  interference  with  pedestrians'  right  of  way,  is  only 
permitted  where  the  vehicular  traffic  is  relatively  the  more  important.  The  tendency 
is  to  forbid  this  use  of  the  sidewalk  for  trucking  purposes  and  for  buildings  which 
have  a  large  volume  of  vehicular  receipts  or  deliveries  to  devote  a  part  of  their 
street  floor  to  driveway  and  platforms. 

Each  building  has  the  right  to  have  vehicles  deliver  goods  to  it  Almost  all 
vehicles  deliver  goods  from  the  rear  end,  and  therefore  for  convenience  demand  the 
privilege  of  backing  in  to  either  the  curb  or  the  platform.  Horse-drawn  vehicles, 
when  so  backed  in,  usually  turn  their  horses  so  as  to  obstruct  as  little  of  the  roadway 
as  possible.  Automobile  trucks  cannot  save  room  by  this  means.  They  are,  how- 
ever, usually  constructed  with  the  truck  body  so  overhung  beyond  the  rear  wheels 
that  the  truck  does  not  occupy  more  of  the  roadway  beyond  the  curb  than  does  a 
horse-drawn  vehicle.    This  distance  is  usually  about  13  feet  to  14  feet. 

In  streets  where  the  through  traffic  demands  it,  vehicles  can  be  compelled  to  stand 
parallel  to  the  curb. 


197 


While  it  might  be  that,  at  the  times  when  traffic  to  and  from  a  market  was  taxing 
a  street  to  its  utmost  capacity  that  long  stretches  of  this  street  were  free  from 
vehicles  standing  along  the  curb,  this  condition  could  not  at  all  safely  be  assumed. 
For,  unless  such  street  were  acquired  solely  as  a  through  driveway,  abutting  property 
has  the  right  to  receive  and  deliver  goods  at  any  time;  and  a  single  pair  of  vehicles 
standing  along  the  curbs  anywhere  nearly  opposite  to  each  other  will  reduce  the 
capacity  of  the  street  materially.  The  longer  free  spaces  along  the  curb  may  permit 
the  faster  moving  vehicles  of  a  mixed  traffic  line  to  turn  out  and  get  ahead  of  some  of 
their  slower  moving  leaders. 

Comparatively  few  vehicles  in  use  in  New  York  City  exceed  a  width,  out  to  out, 
of  7  feet  3  inches,  but  there  are  a  few  which  run  to  7  feet  9  inches  wide,  out  to  out. 

A  side  clearance  between  these  widest  vehicles  of  at  least  3  inches  should  be  fig- 
ured, making  an  out  to  out  width  of  a  space  required  for  each  line  of  vehicles  of 

8  feet  0  inches. 

Unless  very  special  traffic  regulations  of  a  type  not  now  in  use  be  adopted,  pro- 
vision must  be  made  for  at  least  one  line  of  traffic  in  each  direction  in  each  street. 

Where  only  one  line  in  direction  of  the  maximum  traffic  is  possible,  the  speed 
must  be  assumed  as  that  of  the  heavy  trucks ;  where  two  lines  are  possible,  heavy 
truck  will  govern  one  line,  wagon  speed  the  second ;  where  three  lines  are  possible, 
the  third  line  will  be  governed  by  automobile  trucks. 

Street  surface  railway  tracks  will  prevent  the  adoption  of  a  scheme  of  two 
lines  of  traffic  in  the  direction  of  the  maximum  traffic  and  one  the  other  way. 

Vehicles,  Sizes  and  Capacities. — The  actual  area  on  the  vehicle  occupied  by  the 
goods  as  piled  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  rectangular  space  occupied  on  the  street  by 
the  vehicle  and  horse,  including  the  side  clearance.  Thus,  for  a  grocer's  medium 
size,  single  horse,  covered  delivery  wagon,  such  as  is  commonly  used  by  the  retailer 
in  going  to  market:  Area  occupied  by  goods,  3  feet  5  inches  wide  by  6  feet  2  inches 
long,  equals  21.059  feet;  space  occupied  on  street,  8  feet  0  inches  by  18  feet  6  inches, 
equals  148  square  feet ;  per  cent,  of  street  surface  occupied  by  goods  on  vehicle.  14.2 
per  cent. 

For  a  light,  one-horse,  covered  delivery  wagon,  space  occupied  by  goods  3  feet 
0  inches  by  7  feet  from  end  to  tailboard  to  seat,  equals  21  square  feet;  space  on  street 
surface  occupied  by  vehicle,  8  feet  0  inches  by  19  feet,  equals  152  square  feet.  Per- 
centage of  street  surface  occupied  by  goods,  13.8  per  cent. 

Peddler's  open  top  wagon,  one-horse,  such  as  is  used  by  many  fruit  and  vegetable 
dealers :  Area  which  can  be  occupied  by  goods,  3  feet  7  inches  by  9  feet  3  inches,  in- 
cluding the  tailboard.  There  are  sloping  sideboards  above  the  wheels  which  can  be 
used.   Counting  these,  the  width  occupied  by  goods  may  be  taken  as  6  feet  2  inches  by 

9  feet  3  inches  long.  Area  equals  57.0  square  feet.  Street  surface  occupied,  8  feet 
0  inches  by  19  feet  0  inches,  equals  152  square  feet.  Per  cent,  of  street  surface  occu- 
pied by  goods  on  vehicle  equals  37.5  per  cent. 

Two-horse  truck:  Space  occupied  by  goods  on  vehicle,  5  feet  1  inch  wide  by  11 
feet  2  inches  long.  Area  equals  56.8  square  feet.  Space  on  street  surface  occupied  by 
truck,  8  feet  0  inches  by  23  feet  0  inches.  Area  equals  184  square  feet.  Percentage  of 
street  surface  occupied  by  goods,  30.9  per  cent. 

Large,  heavy,  two-horse  truck:  Space  occupied  by  goods  on  vehicle,  4  feet  9  inches 
by  14  feet  0  inches,  equals  SSyi  square  feet.  Space  on  street  surface  occupied  by 
truck,  8  feet  0  inches  by  26  feet  6  inches,  equals  212  square  feet.  Per  cent,  of  street 
surface  occupied  by  goods  equals  31.3  per  cent. 

For  automobile  delivery  wagons  the  percentage  of  street  surface  occupied  by 
goods  will  run  upwards  of  40  per  cent.,  and  for  motor  trucks  from  60  per  cent,  to, 
in  some  cases  of  open  electric  trucks  with  driver's  seat  extending  over  the  goods, 
over  90  per  cent. 


198 


Motor  trucks  have  smaller  wheels  than  horse-drawn  trucks,  and  the  goods-carry- 
ing space  extends  out  over  the  wheels  to  the  full  width  of  the  vehicle. 

Covered  wagons  are  limited  in  capacity  by  the  height  from  floor  to  roof  or 
cover,  unless  these  roofs  or  covers  are  strong  enough  to  pile  goods  on.  The 
loads  on  open  topped  wagons  are  limited  in  most  cases  by  convenience  of  loading  or 
by  the  requirements  of  stability;  in  few  cases  by  the  headroom  available  under 
bridges,  etc. 

The  bodies  of  practically  all  vehicles  used  in  market  transportation  are  carried 
on  springs.  The  resulting  lateral  instability  makes  overturning  of  the  vehicle  prob- 
able if  the  center  of  weight  of  the  load  be  raised  too  high,  as  it  tends  to  be  when 
heavy  goods  are  piled  high  on  the  vehicle. 

This  requirement,  and  that  for  convenience  of  loading,  combine  to  prevent  light, 
bulky  goods  from  being  piled  much,  if  any,  over  three  barrels  high.  Heavy  goods 
are,  around  New  York,  seldom  piled  over  two  and  one-half  barrels  high. 

Most  New  York  trucks  are  built  with  straight  axles  and  the  body  above  the  axle. 
In  Boston  the  heavy  trucks  are  the  so-called  "low  gear"  trucks,  having  rear  axles 
which  drop  or  bend  down  vertically  between  and  near  to  the  wheels,  leaving  room 
for  a  low  hung  body  between.  The  goods  are  thus  carried  closer  to  the  ground, 
giving  greater  stability  to  the  vehicle  and  more  convenience  in  handling.  Very 
heavy  loads  are  carried,  and  three  big  horses  abreast  are  quite  common  for  hauling 
these  trucks. 

The  probable  composition  of  the  lines  of  traffic  should  be  arrived  at  from  con- 
siderations of  the  probable  conduct  of  the  market. 

Since  this  market  is  to  enable  the  retailer  to  purchase  directly  from  the  pro- 
ducer or  his  agent,  the  commission  man,  there  will  probably  be  quite  a  few  farmers' 
wagons  or  auto  trucks  bringing  in  produce.  These  will  arrive  before  and  will  depart 
after  the  market  is  in  session.  They  will  not  therefore  require  use  of  street  at  the 
same  time  as  the  retailers. 

And,  since  the  capacity  compared  with  the  street  space  occupied  is  greater  for 
the  farmer's  wagons  than  for  those  of  the  retailer,  the  retailer's  wagons  mainly  need 
consideration. 

To  the  existing  markets,  with  their  lack  of  freight  connections,  there  has  been 
a  great  deal  of  trucking  with  heavy  trucks  from  boat  and  railroad  terminals.  This 
would  be  considerably  reduced,  but  not  entirely  eliminated,  unless  the  goods  brought 
in  by  steamships,  which  must  berth  at  their  own  piers,  be  transported  to  market  by 
railroad.  At  present  this  trucking  is  done  quite  irrespective  of  whether  market  is  in 
session  or  not.    But  goods  might  be  forbidden  entry  to  market  when  in  session. 

For  these  reasons  two  sets  of  figures  are  presented  in  this  table,  one  contemplating 
streets  used  only  by  light,  horse-drawn  vehicles  and  by  automobile  wagons  and 
motor  trucks ;  the  other  by  fast  moving  traffic  composed  of  light,  horse-drawn  ve- 
hicles and  motor  vehicles,  and  a  slow  moving  traffic  composed  of  heavy,  horse-drawn 
trucks. 

Finally,  traffic  in  these  streets  is  assumed  to  be  entirely  uninterrupted  by  traffic 
in  cross  streets.  From  all  of  this,  it  should  be  seen  that  the  traffic  capacities  as 
given  are  higher  than  can  always  be  obtained. 

In  figuring  the  capacity  in  cubic  feet  of  merchandise  carted,  heavy  trucks  have 
been  taken  as  loaded  two  barrels  high,  and  grocers'  wagons  have  also  been  loaded 
two  barrels  high,  although  many  covered  grocers'  wagons  will  not  permit  of  this 
loading.  This  has  been  done  because  the  peddlers'  open  top  wagons  will  load  this 
high  and  have  a  larger  percentage  of  goods  area  to  street  surface. 

A  great  many  foodstuffs  average  about  56  to  60  pounds  per  bushel,  equal  to  about 
46  pounds  per  cubic  foot  when  measured  in  bulk. 


199 


Traffic  capacities  in  the  maximvun  direction  in  thousands 
of  cubic  feet  per  hour,  gross  of  merchandise  carted. 

AU  Fast  Trucks.             Slow  and  Fast  Trucks. 

*IB10  T 

tN'-i>OvOOOOOOfOr«)roro 

0^»-<^0_0^0_r^  C^J  i-H  »-l  »H  .-H 

c-T  --r  T-T  .-T 

O  OO  00  00  00 

00  00  00  00 

■ntnipsj^ 

o  o  m  o  lo 

On  0\  0\  On 
^  i-t 

•MOIS 

O  lt;  \r-  lO  lO  LO  LT)  'O  LO  LO 

NO\O»O00  00r0f0»OlOlOiO 
ir>\c>t^Ot^00000\0\0\0\ 
0\_— On  00  00 

•umipaj^ 

1,576 
1,576 

NO  oo  00  00 
»^  oo  00  00 

•jnois 

00O\OnOsO\O^OnOnOnO\On 
CO  T-H  ^  *-l 

Assumed  composition  of  traffic  of  line  and  lines  by  number 
of  lines  av.  space  %  of  line  and  speed  in  miles  per  hour., 

Slow  and  Fast  Trucks. 
Slow.         Medium.  Fast. 

66% 
6  miles 
per  hour. 

CS  .-1      ■rt  »-l 

14.2% 
3.4  miles 
per  hour. 

CS      »H  CS  ,-1  ^  •.-H 

31% 
2.4  miles 
per  hour. 

AU  Fast  Trucks. 

Slower  Faster 
Line  Line 

o  S 

CS  CS  T-<            >-l  .-I 

14.2% 
3.4  miles 
per  hour. 

•uoijoajip  isABJ^ 

'• 

CO 

'ssuii  oj^j:^  }o  q^pu^  pus  jsqnm^i 

^    \N  O  NpJNf^    .s    -  ^ 
Ov-<\v   -^-Ko\  00  0\  00 

1  0\  00  00  00   1     1     1     1  •-H  •rt 
00    1     1     1     1  CO  CO  CM  CN 
lO  Ti<  lO 

*qjii3  ipm  Snofe  soQds  Smpcoin/^ 

00 

00  00  00  00  00  00  00 

Street  widths. 

*sqjn3  nsSM^sg 

O  O  O      C-1  •>*  O  V3  CO  O  O 
lO-^-^COCOCOco 

•S9mi  asnoq  ussM^sg 

OOO  OOlOOvOOO 
"1  cs  O      0\  00          ^  NO 

*H  ^ 

200 


These  goods,  packed  in  full  boxes,  would  weigh  only  slightly  less,  but  packed  in 
barrels,  due  to  the  lost  space  between  the  barrels,  their  weight  per  cubic  foot  of 
space  occupied  would  be  31  pounds. 

Table  No.  1,  of  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Markets,  Prices,  and  Costs  of  the 
New  York  State  Food  Investigating  Committee,  while  not  necessarily  accepted  as 
correct,  will  serve  again  as  a  basis  for  computation. 

Translating  the  figures  there  given  into  pounds  avoirdupois  and  thence  into  cubic 
feet  at  the  rate  of  31  pounds  per  cubic  foot,  corresponding  to  average  barrelled 
foodstuffs  and  omitting  milk,  which  probably  would  not  come  into  market  in  market 
times,  the  total  equals,  cubic  feet  per  year  or,  assuming  300  market  days  per  year, 
599,800  cubic  feet  per  market  day. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  table  of  capacities  of  streets  through  one  90-foot  street, 
this  whole  quantity  of  foodstuffs  could  probably  be  carted  in  one  hour.  There  is 
thus,  so  far  as  the  mere  vehicular  approaches  are  concerned,  no  reason  why  a  single 
wholesale  market  for  the  whole  city  should  not  be  planned. 

The  standing  space  required  in  a  single  market  for  the  whole  number  of  retailers 
who  might  be  there  at  once  would,  however,  be  excessive.  If,  of  the  11,000  retailers 
and  at  least  4,000  more  fruit  and  vegetable  dealers  and  peddlers  who  come  to  market 
between  4.30  a.  m.  and  8  a.  m.,  and  who  spend  on  an  average  one  and  one-half  hours 
there,  not  all,  but  perhaps  two-thirds  of  whom  come  daily  and  the  other  third  once 
in  two  days,  there  is  at  one  time  in  the  market,  say  40  per  cent.  There  must  be, 
then,  standing  room  for  6,000  retailers'  vehicles  which,  at  as  little  as  148  square  feet 
per  vehicle  would  require  slightly  over  20  acres,  an  amount  of  wagon  space,  even 
if  on  two  or  three  different  levels,  difficult  to  secure  at  any  centrally  located  place  in 
this  city.  As  has  been  shown  under  heading  of  the  Retailer,  unless  the  retailers 
supply  themselves  with  means  which  they  do  not  now  possess  for  the  cool  or  cold 
storage  of  "most  perishable"  goods,  most  of  them  must  have  a  delivery  of  goods 
which,  in  point  of  speed  and  certainty,  is  beyond  what  can  be  expected  of  a  hired 
delivery  service.  These  retailers  must  therefore  continue  to  go  to  market  in  their 
wagons,  and  there  must  be  room  in  the  market  to  accommodate  these  wagons. 

When  the  distance  (one  way)  from  market  to  store  exceeds  5  to  6  miles,  which 
distance  can  be  traveled  in  about  one  and  one-half  hours,  it  becomes  burdensome 
and  the  retailer  seeks  other  marketing  means. 

Considering  that  the  distances  from  a  central  point  on  the  west  side  of  lower 
Manhattan  to  the  various  limits  of  the  City,  measured  along  air  lines,  are  about  as 
follows : 

To  the  north,  14  miles;  to  the  northeast,  to  the  east,  IS  miles;  to  the  southeast 
(Coney  Island),  9j^  miles;  to  the  southwest  (Tottenville),  19  miles. 

It  should  be  clear  that  a  central  wholesale  market  cannot,  and  will  not,  supply  a 
large  portion  of  the  retailers  directly. 

Where  retailers  cannot  get  to  market  conveniently,  they  have  to  make  other  buy- 
ing arrangements,  resulting  in  their  having  to  pay  more  than  market  prices,  all  of 
which  makes  foodstuff  costs  to  the  outlying  city  dweller  very  high. 

It  is  possible  by  the  use  of  motor  trucks  and  of  automobile  delivery  wagons  to 
reduce  the  time  between  market  and  store  sufficiently  to  make  one  central  market 
practical  for  these  vehicles,  and  it  is  possible  by  the  use  of  only  motor  trucks  in 
market,  each  truck  serving  at  least  three  retailers  and  each  truck  having  three  times 
the  carrying  capacity  of  the  ordinary  retailer's  wagon  and  occupying  only  the  same 
space  as  this  wagon  and  horse,  to  reduce  the  standing  room  required  in  market  for 
such  motor  trucks  about  7  acres;  but,  even  if  this  were  supplied  on  three  floors,  the 
ground  area  required  for  one  central  market  would  be  almost  prohibitively  large. 

The  cost  of  delays  to  trucks  in  loading  will  depend,  of  course,  on  the  total  per 


201 


diem  costs  for  the  trucks  and  drivers ;  the  percentage  of  cost  added  to  the  goods 
onto  this,  and  also  on  the  value  of  these  goods. 

Thus,  if  a  twro-horse  truck  costing  $7  per  day  has  to  wait  three  hours,  equal  to 
one-third  of  its  working  day,  for  a  load  of  two  tons  of  cabbage  worth  $5  per  ton, 
there  is  added  to  this  cabbage  23  per  cent,  of  its  value  for  a  mere  waiting  charge, 
without  the  cost  of  transportation.  The  same  truck,  waiting  the  same  time  for  a 
load  of  oranges,  would  probably  not  cause  an  addition  of  more  than  V/i  per  cent. 

And  for  potatoes  this  waiting  would  add  a  charge  of  about  5  per  cent. 

Summary  and  Conclusions. —  (In  what  follows,  an  acquaintance  with  the  deduc- 
tions of  the  foregoing  is  presupposed.  Most  of  the  statements  here  made  as  such 
are  repetitions  of  conclusions  reached  in  the  preceding  somewhat  extended  discussion.) 

Conditions  are  such  in  this  city  that  a  larger  supply  of  foodstuffs  of  better  quality 
and  at  lower  prices  are  even  now  badly  needed,  and  the  demand  is  increasing. 

To  obtain  the  greater  supply  and  the  better  quality,  the  producer  will  have  to 
receive  a  greater  net  profit. 

To  lower  the  price  to  the  consumer,  in  the  face  of  this  demand  for  more  profit 
for  the  producer,  it  is  necessary  to  do  two  things : 

(a)  Eliminate  the  very  great  uncertainties  under  which  the  producer  now  works. 

(b)  Eliminate  considerable  of  the  expense  between  producer  and  consumer  which 
is  necessary  under  existing  conditions  of  marketing. 

The  producer's  proper  work  is  growing  foodstuffs  and,  undoubtedly,  he  can  best 
serve  the  world  when  he  is  free  to  give  this,  his  work,  his  undistracted  attention. 
He  should  be  provided  with  information  as  to  what  to  grow  so  as  to  best  serve  the 
world,  which  information  he  cannot  collect  for  himself.  He  should  be  advised  as 
to  what  consuming  center  to  ship  his  goods  to  when  they  are  harvested,  so  as  to 
help  to  properly  average  the  supply.  He  should  have  clear  advice  as  to  how  to 
grade,  pack,  and  ship,  so  that  culls  and  waste  stay  with  him  where  they  can  be  of 
use,  rather  than  go  to  a  market  where  they  breed  for  him  only  expense  and  reciprocal 
suspicions  of  dishonesty.  And  finally,  he  should  have  available  to  ship  to  a  market 
so  constituted  that  he  will  have  perfect  confidence  that  his  goods,  when  received 
there,  will  be  handled  as  economically,  as  judiciously,  and  as  honestly  as  he  himself, 
in  his  best  moments,  could  do.  Having  this,  he  will  be  enabled  to  make  much  more 
total  net  profits  than  he  can  at  present,  although  his  goods  will  be  selling  at  a  lower 
price  wholesale;  and,  in  addition,  he  will  be  enabled  to  safely  ship  large  volumes  of 
goods  which,  when  the  to  be  expected  gross  profit  is  small,  he  now  lets  go  to  waste, 
unshipped,  rather  than  take  the  chance  of  more  loss. 

Producers,  through  their  Associations,  have  "in  various  parts  of  the  country  at- 
tempted to  do  many  of  these  things  and  with  varying  degrees  of  success.  Their 
work  is  in  all  cases  of  value,  and  in  some  functions  their  labors  will  probably  be 
found  advisable  to  be  continued.  In  other  directions,  particularly  in  the  gathering 
of  information  as  to  what  to  grow,  and  in  the  giving  of  advice  as  to  where  to  ship, 
there  are  so  many  unassociated  producers  that  it  seems  possible  that  the  past  work 
of  the  Associations  will  be  of  most  value  in  having  prepared  the  minds  of  the  pro- 
ducers for  what  otherwise  would,  a  few  years  ago,  have  been  considered  a  clear 
infringement  of  the  producers'  constitutional  rights. 

This  problem  of  supplying  the  producers  with  information  as  to  what  to  plant 
is  closely  associated  with  the  later  problem  of  advising  them  where  to  market.  Both 
problems  are  more  than  county-wide,  more  than  state-wide — they  are  at  least  nation- 
wide, and  to  some,  but  fortunately  a  small  extent,  international. 

The  Producers'  Associations  have  so  far  failed  to  coordinate  with  one  another  suffi- 
ciently to  cope  with  these  problems.  And  there  are  other  matters  of  valuable  in- 
formation which  these  associations  are  entirely  unprepared  to  furnish,  such  as  ade- 


202 


■quate  long  time  weather  forecasts,  which  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  can 
furnish. 

The  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  is  about  to  establish  a  Bureau  of  Markets. 
So  far  as  known,  its  scope  and  powers  have  not  yet  been  formulated. 

It  is  possible  that  the  matters  of  information  to  producers  above  stated  have 
been  provided  for  by  that  Bureau ;  but,  at  any  rate,  it  could  do  no  harm  if  the  De- 
partment were  properly  urged  to  include  these  matters  in  its  field. 

The  standards  by  which  foodstuffs  are  to  be  graded,  as  to  size,  color,  shape, 
quality,  etc.,  and  packed,  the  size,  shape,  and  quality  of  the  packages,  the  conditions 
under  which  goods  are  to  be  received  at  market,  etc.,  are  all  matters  which  can  be 
regulated  by  action  of  the  authorities  of  the  market  in  each  consuming  center;  but  it 
should  be  plainly  evident  that  if  wise  standards,  defining  particularly  and  exactly  all 
these  things,  were  adopted  by  some  central  authority,  that  the  producer  would  thereby 
be  enabled  to  grade  and  pack  his  goods  once  for  all  and  ship  all  or  part  to  any 
market,  diverting  them  en  route  if  need  be. 

Proper  standards  and  a  proper  inspection  service  to  enforce  these  standards 
and  to  unbiasedly  report  on  the  condition  of  goods  as  received  would  mean  for  any 
market  adopting  these  measures  a  large  preference  on  the  part  of  shippers  over 
•markets  otherwise  equal  but  not  so  equipped.  The  final  word  as  to  what  constitutes 
wisdom  in  this  matter  will  not  be  said  for  some  considerable  time  to  come.  Mean- 
time, it  is  recommended  that  either  a  set  of  carefully  considered  standards  for  New 
York  City  Markets  be  adopted,  or  that  such  a  set  be,  by  the  market  authorities  in 
New  York  City,  proposed  and  urged  upon  the  Bureau  of  Markets  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  for  their  consideration  as  a  step  toward  national  legislation 
covering  this  matter. 

The  expense  between  producer  and  consumer  has  been  shown  to  be  largely,  not 
in  the  wholesale  marketing,  but  in  the  retailing.  And  the  reason  for  this  has  been 
shown  to  be  that  the  retailer  sells  the  consumer  not  foodstuffs  alone,  but  foodstuffs 
plus  services  of  various  sorts,  plus  a  share  in  various  expenses. 

It  has  been  shown  that  there  are  many  consumers  who  wish  these  services  and 
do  not  object  to  paying  for  them,  but  that  there  are  others  to  whom  this  having  to 
pay  for  services  which  they  would  gladly  perform  themselves  if  thereby  they  could 
save  expense  is  a  real  hardship.  It  has  further  been  pointed  out  that  if  the  retailer 
did  not  have  to  include  the  costs  of  services  in  the  prices  charged  for  foodstuffs 
that  he  could  secure  for  himself  a  better  profit.  Perhaps  the  charges  for  such 
services  as  delivery,  the  gathering  of  orders  by  wagons,  and  phone  use,  which 
the  consumer  may  or  may  not  elect  to  receive,  should  be  charged  for  separately  so 
that  those  who  do  not  receive  need  not  pay.  This  would  be  an  economically  sound 
treatment,  tending  to  check  a  growing  extravagance  of  often  quite  useless  expense. 

There  are  other  expenses  which  the  consumer  can  avoid  by  a  wise  ordering  of 
his  ways.  If  paying  cash  will  avoid  dealing  at  a  credit  store,  he  will  avoid  helping 
to  finance  others'  improvidence;  and  more  expensive  still,  helping  to  pay  for  goods 
which  others  have  used.  If  he  will  buy  closely;  buy  in  quantity  so  far  as  is  wise  for 
him  to  do;  buy  standard  goods  instead  of  highly  advertised  preparations,  and  buy 
at  stores  which  he  can  see  are  economically  run,  instead  of  at  extravagantly  operated 
ones. 

A  comparison  made  by  experts  of  all  the  different  preparations  of  the  various 
foodstuffs,  with  their  comparative  virtues  and  values  given  in  such  form  that  the 
ordinary  consumer  would  have  correct  and  practical  guidance  therefrom,  would  cer- 
tainly tend  to  reduce  to  the  consumer  the  cost  of  the  advertised  preparations  of 
foodstuffs. 

To  be  of  value  the  preparations  must  be  given  by  the  name  or  mark  which  the 
consumer  will  see  when  the  goods  are  offered  him  for  sale.   This  is  a  big  piece  of 


203 


work  in  itself,  and  when  done  a  great  deal  of  it  would  be  of  much  more  than  local 
interest.  It  will  not  be  easy  to  do  this  without  incurring  damage  suits  from  certain 
manufacturers,  unless  a  considerable  number  of  manufacturers  of  preparations  of 
each  article  agree  to  permit  comparisons,  analyses,  etc.,  of  their  goods,  as  bought  in 
the  open  market  to  be  published.  If  such  a  partial  list  be  published,  and  means  be 
taken  to  bring  these  into  the  consumers'  hands,  the  outstanding  manufacturers  will 
gradually  be  forced  into  line.  Such  a  set  of  comparisons,  properlj'  made,  will  benefit 
the  manufacturer  in  the  long  run,  relieving  him  of  much  of  his  heavy  advertising 
burden  and  making  success  lie  in  the  direction  of  easily  ascertainable  merit  rather 
than  along  the  somewhat  mysterious  paths  of  fancy  and  prejudice. 

Eternal  vigilance  as  the  price  of  liberty  applies  not  only  to  freedom  from  political 
oppression  but  to  freedom  from  all  kinds  of  wrongs.  The  producer  who  would 
keep  even  the  best  planned  market  organization  free  from  graft  must  arrange  to  so 
inspect  the  service  rendered  by  his  agents  that  wrongdoing  will  be  too  hazardous 
to  be  profitable.  Right  service  must  be  rewarded  and  honored,  and  wrong  service 
made  unprofitable,  or  graft  will  flourish.  In  this,  the  Producers'  Associations  can 
operate  to  greatly  reduce  to  the  producer  the  cost  of  such  inspection  while  operating 
with  much  more  force  to  procure  the  punishment  of  the  offender. 

As  a  means  of  making  this  eternal  vigilance  possible  to  the  consumer  as  against 
the  retailer,  semi-wholesale  markets  adjacent  to  the  railroad  termini  would  be  of 
great  importance.  It  is  doubtful  that  a  right-minded  public  begrudges  the  efficient 
retailer  his  profits ;  but  this  public  should,  even  if  it  does  not,  begrudge  the  retailer 
the  power  to  assess  upon  them,  at  his  pleasure,  the  results  of  economic  shortsighted- 
ness and  mismanagement. 

The  retailers  have  their  organizations  in  which  to  some  extent  marketing  and 
retailing  problems  are  discussed.  They  are  well  enough  organized  to  successfully 
impose  a  heavy  fine  upon  the  wholesaler  who  sells  a  consumer.  They  are  therefore 
presumably  sufficiently  organized  to  deal  with  the  problems  of  separating  service 
charges  from  foodstuff  costs ;  with  the  advisability  of  cool  or  cold  storage  equipment 
in  their  stores ;  with  the  adoption  of  means  to  eliminate  the  purchaser  on  credit,  or 
at  least  the  purchaser  who  fails  to  pay.  That  they  have  not  so  far  successfully 
done  so  is  believed  to  be  more  because  of  the  desirability  of  such  actions  not  having 
been  presented  to  them  in  a  convincing  way  than  of  a  lack  of  power  or  ability  on 
their  part  to  cope  with  these  problems. 

The  Market  Itself. — ^The  most  important  part  of  the  market  is  not  the  buildings 
nor  the  location,  nor  even  facilities,  but  the  organization. 

Given  a  proper  organization,  good  results  will  be  obtained  in  spite  of  poor  build- 
ings, locations,  or  facilities. 

The  necessary  functions  of  any  market  were  outlined  at  the  beginning  of  this 
report. 

Without  a  market  organization  planned  to  direct  and  govern  these  various  func- 
tions, disconnected  markets  or  even  different  parts  of  the  same  market,  if  of  large 
extent,  must  really  be  separate  markets,  offering  different  attractions  to  their  patrons 
and  therefore  not  serving  in  the  most  efficient  manner  to  distribute  the  foodstuffs. 

Because  of  transportation  costs  and  of  the  hardships  imposed  upon  the  retailer 
by  the  distances,  the  verdict  of  the  past  that  more  than  a  certain  small  distance  from 
store  to  market  is  impassable,  seems  properly  final. 

This,  coupled  with  the  difficulty  of  securing  sufficient  ground  space  in  a  near 
central  water  front  location,  would  seem  to  make  undesirable  the  scheme  of  one 
central  wholesale  market  for  the  whole  of  Greater  New  York. 

The  markets  should  be  so  placed  as  to  require  little  over  S  miles,  and  certainly 
not  over  7^  miles  in  any  direction  to  the  limits  of  the  territory  served  by  them. 

The  location  on  the  water  front  is  desirable  mainly  for  the  steamboats,  canal 


204 


boats,  fishing  boats,  and  smaller  craft  which  are  thus  enabled  to  unload  at  market. 

Steamships  running  in  lines  have  their  own  piers  and  generally  carry  quantities 
of  such  size  as  require  distributing  among  several  markets.  Railroad  facilities  are 
of  much  greater  importance  than  are  water  front  facilities.  The  railroad  entering 
the  market  should  be  a  connecting  railroad,  so  as  to  give  the  market  the  advantages 
of  all  of  the  railroads  so  connected.  If  this  connecting  railroad  have  connection 
with  the  piers  of  the  main  foodstuff-carrying  steamship  lines,  the  markets'  facilities 
will  be  greatly  increased.  There  are  at  present  seventeen  usual  railroad  delivery 
points  for  foodstuffs  within  Greater  New  York,  not  counting  the  Borough  of  Rich- 
mond. All  of  these  are  used  at  times,  most  of  them  constantly.  Many  are  not  near 
markets,  but  carloads  are  sold,  subject  to  inspection,  when  delivered  at  these  delivery 
points. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  two  matters  to  be  covered  in  the  adoption  of  an 
organization  for  a  market  are  the  means  for  standardization  of  the  goods  and  the 
means  for  the  determination  of  the  market  price  of  each  commodity. 

Many  of  the  advantages  of  sufficient  standards  covering  gradings  of  any  food- 
stuff by  variety,  size,  color,  taste,  and  other  qualities  affecting  retailer  and  consumer 
have  been  already  dwelt  upon.  Coupled  with  an  efficient  and  uniform  inspection 
service  by  the  market  authorities,  who  finally  should  control  the  application  of  these 
market  standards,  the  producer,  the  shipper,  the  receiver,  the  retailer,  and  even  the 
consumer  are  all  assured  of  a  square  deal.  It  means  introducing  at  one  swoop,  order 
and  honesty  throughout  the  whole  path  of  the  foodstuffs  from  the  field  to  the  kitchen. 

It  means  trust  instead  of  suspicion,  and  to  large  degree  that  faith  on  the  part  of 
the  necessarily  absent  producer  which  will  induce  him  to  ship  close  margined  food- 
stuffs to  market. 

It  means  a  great  reduction  of  the  time  and  effort  now  spent  in  market  by  retailers 
and  dealers  in  examining  and  sorting  over  goods,  and  it  means  that  the  goods  on 
sale  in  a  market  need  not  all  be  exposed  in  the  sales  hall,  thus  making  for  a  much 
more  compact,  and  therefore  in  some  other  functions  more  efficient,  market. 

It  seems  proper  to  this  control  of  standards  that  no  goods  should  be  placed  on 
sale  in  the  markets  which  have  not  been  graded  and  packed  in  accordance  with 
market  standards  and  which  have  not  been  inspected  by  the  markets'  inspectors  as 
to  these,  and  as  to  condition  upon  receipt. 

Reports  by  such  market  inspectors,  properly  supervised,  should  be  satisfactory 
evidence  to  the  shipper,  especially  as  the  goods  would  be  sold  by  these  reports. 

The  Determination  of  the  Market  Price  of  Any  Article. — It  has  been  pointed 
out  herein  that  the  market  price  of  any  article  of  foodstuff  is  subject  to  continuous 
variation  throughout  different  parts  and  different  times  of  the  same  market,  as  well  as 
in  different  markets,  and  it  has  been  pointed  out  that  a  great  many  of  the  retailers 
are  mainly  concerned  to  buy  at  as  good  a  price  as  do  their  competitors.  If  it  were 
possible  to  establish  a.  uniform  price  throughout  all  the  city  markets  for  each  day 
in  each  grade  of  each  article,  it  would  benefit  the  consumer  by  reducing  the  uncer- 
tainties of  the  producer,  it  would  be  nearly  a  substantial  justice,  and  in  addition 
would  be  of  considerable  benefit  by  permitting  otherwise  subordinated  conveniences 
of  the  retailers  to  control  their  movements. 

It  would  be  approximately  just,  as  between  centrally  located  and  outlying  city 
markets,  both  because  the  costs  of  transporting  goods  in  quantity  by  efficient  means 
for  these  short  distances  is  only  a  small  per  cent,  of  their  value  and  because  nearly 
every  city  market  would  be  especially  favored  by  being  closest  to  the  source  of 
supply  of  some  one  or  more  articles  of  foodstuffs. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  there  are  two  methods  of  price  fixing  in  quite  common 
use,  one  by  a  process  of  offer  and  refusal  or  acceptance,  in  which  all  can  take  part. 


205 


the  other  by  the  action  of  experts  who  fix  the  prices  by  their  knowledge  of  demand 
and  supply. 

The  prices  as  fixed  by  the  experts  can  undoubtedly  be  the  more  logical  and 
more  nearly  scientifically  correct;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  motives  other  than 
the  highest  secure  control  of  the  experts,  the  resulting  bad  condition  may  be  very 
difficult  to  bring  under  proper  control. 

The  two  methods  are  quite  analogous  to  the  democratic  and  monarchial  types 
of  government,  with  this  possible  difference — that,  while  in  the  case  of  governments 
the  democratic  government  may  not  produce  as  good  government  as  the  well  con- 
ducted monarchy,  it  is  claimed  to  be  better  because  producing  better  citizens — in  this 
case,  the  ethical  improvement  of  the  marketmen  is  not  the  prime  desideratum  in  this 
matter  of  market  price  determination. 

It  is  possible  for  the  market  authorities  to  determine  quite  closely  how  much  of 
each  variety  of  each  article  of  foodstuffs,  at  certain  prices,  the  city  as  a  whole  will 
absorb  in  any  day  in  the  year,  of  a  given  kind  of  weather  and  when  certain  supplies 
of  other  foodstuffs  which  are  used  as  equivalents  or  substitutes  for  this  variety  are 
in  market. 

Because,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  a  considerable  of  the  consumption  of  foodstuffs 
depends  upon  the  price  at  which  they  can  be  bought ;  because  a  considerable  of  eating, 
especially  of  fruits  and  other  of  the  more  pleasing  of  foodstuffs  is  more  a  matter 
of  pleasure  than  of  necessity,  the  price  will  help  to  a  large  degree  to  determine  the 
quantity  which  the  market  can  absorb.  The  determination  of  the  consumers'  demand 
is  therefore  not  a  simple  problem,  but  it  is  nevertheless  as  capable  of  exact  de- 
termination as  are  many  other  complicated  questions  in  engineering  and  by  the 
same  methods. 

It  is  also  possible,  if  the  market  regulations  require  that  all  goods  to  be  sold  at 
wholesale  must  be  formally  entered  for  market  and  inspected  the  day  previous  to 
sale,  to  know  the  market's  supply. 

It  is  also  possible  for  the  supply  which  the  retailers  have  on  hand  to  be  estimated 
quite  closely,  and  the  estimate  checked  if  need  be  by  inspection. 

It  is  thus  possible  to  know  quite  closely  the  supply  available  to  the  consumer  and 
the  consumer's  demands. 

And  this  information,  modified  in  some  degree  by  a  knowledge  of  the  approximate 
total  future  supplies,  should  be  sufficient  to  enable  the  market  authorities  to  set  a 
wholesale  price  for  any  variety  of  any  article.  A  determination  of  this  sort  gives 
the  producer  or  shipper  no  voice  in  the  matter  of  market  price  determination,  except 
such  as  he  may  indirectly  have  through  refusing  to  enter  his  goods  until  the  market 
is  believed  to  be  satisfactorily  short  of  supplies.  It  could  be  arranged  that  the  pro- 
ducer or  shipper  could  enter  his  goods  to  be  sold  only  when  the  price  exceeded  a 
certain  limit.  This  is  practically  all  the  voice  the  producer  or  shipper  has  at  the 
present  time,  and  this  is  sufficient  to  prevent  such  arbitrary  action  on  the  part  of 
the  market  authorities  as  would  wrong  the  producer. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  producer's  final  act  of  control  is  in  refusal  to  sell  or  to 
produce  at  unsatisfactory  prices,  the  consumers'  is  in  curtailment  to  a  minimum  of  his 
buying. 

A  determination  of  market  price  by  experts  of  the  market  authorities  could  not 
then  become  so  arbitrary  as  might  at  first  glance  seem  possible. 

In  the  practice  of  certain  retailers  in  outlying  towns  in  securing  their  supplies 
from  the  producers  who  are  on  the  way  to  market,  paying  therefore  on  the  succeed- 
ing day  the  highest  market  price  established  for  these  goods  on  the  day  of  their 
purchase,  may  be  found  ideas  of  value  in  formulating  another  system  of  market 
price  determination. 

Here  it  will  be  noted  first,  that  the  convenience  and  saving  of  expense  of  not 


206 


having  to  go  into  market  and  haul  thence  the  goods  which  were  already  passing 
through  their  town,  is  sufficient  to  cause  the  retailers  to  forego  their  possible  oppor- 
tunity in  market  to  buy  at  less  than  the  highest  market  prices  and  to  accept  market 
prices  established  by  others,  rather  than  those  which  they  helped  to  determine,  and 
second,  that  the  bargain,  so  far  as  its  determination  in  absolute  figures  was  concerned, 
was  not  completed  until  the  day  after  the  purchase  and  delivery  of  the  goods. 

If  it  be  desirable  that,  instead  of  market  prices  being  determined  by  the  experts 
of  the  market  that  their  advice  and  information  be  used  simply  as  such,  but  that 
the  price  be  really  fixed  by  the  traders,  it  might  be  that  the  sales  be  all  mainly  pri- 
vate, for  the  facilitation  of  business,  that  the  sale  be  made  nominally  at  prices 
agreed  upon  between  seller  and  buyer,  which  prices  were  really  to  be  modified  by 
the  action  of  a  market  clearing-house  to  an  average  of  all  such  private  prices  made 
during  the  market  day  for  the  same  goods  of  each  commodity,  and  that  the  pur- 
chasers deposit  a  certain  per  cent,  of  money  in  excess  of  their  agreed  upon  private 
price  to  cover  a  possible  higher  average  market  price  than  their  private  price,  the 
prices  to  be  brought  before  the  market  clearing-house  by  properly  worded  declarations, 
without  which  no  goods  entered  for  the  market  might  be  removed  therefrom. 

If  the  price  of  the  goods  to  the  purchaser  was  not  to  be  affected  by  the  price  he 
reported,  he  would  have  a  tendency  to  report  prices  higher  than  he  actually  paid, 
first  to  misinform  his  consuming  customers,  and  second  to  induce  his  competitors 
to  mark  their  goods  higher  when  selling  to  their  consumers.  The  wholesaler,  if  he 
owned  the  goods  outright,  would  have  a  tendency  to  report  higher  prices  than 
actually  received  from  the  retailer  so  as  to  delude  other  wholesalers.  And  the  com- 
mission man  would  have  a  tendency  to  report  prices  as  lower  than  actually  received 
so  as  to  secure  the  difference  for  himself. 

If,  however,  both  buyer  and  seller  had  to  sign  (and  even  perhaps  take  some  simple 
and  quick  yet  binding  affidavit,  too)  the  statement  of  their  private  agreement,  had  to 
deposit  the  same  with  the  market  authorities  before  the  goods  could  be  taken  from 
market,  and  finally,  had  to  pay  for  their  goods  by  the  average  market  price  which 
their  written  statements  had  helped  determine,  these  statements  would  become  of 
force  and  importance. 

A  numerical  average  of  the  market  prices  reported  would  not  be  just  as  giving  the 
purchaser  of  one  bushel  equal  voice  with  the  purchaser  of  a  carload.  The  average 
for  any  one  grade  of  a  commodity  should  be  the  sum  of  the  products  of  each 
quantity  of  goods,  times  its  private  price,  all  divided  by  the  total  quantity  of  the 
commodity  of  this  grade  so  sold  on  the  day  in  question  in  the  market. 

This  scheme  of  operation  could,  it  is  thought,  be  made  practical,  and  would  not 
cause  as  much  delay  to  business  as  an  attempt  to  auction  off  all  goods,  while  giving 
the  retailer  and  the  producer  a  chance  to  know  market  prices  quickly  and  exactly. 

Either  of  these  market  price  determinations  would  be  a  considerable  advance  over 
the  present  methods. 

The  latter  of  these  two  methods  would  probably  require  banking  facilities  whose 
hours  would  coincide  with  those  of  the  market,  and  whose  information  and  ex- 
perience would  be  such  as  to  make  them  secure  in  lending  upon  produce  in  market 
storage,  and  furthermore  whose  interests  would  incline  them,  to  so  do. 

A  system  of  market  ownership  of  standard  returnable  packages,  to  be  rented  upon 
sufficient  deposit  and  adequate  rental,  would  much  simplify  the  package  problem, 
enabling  the  packages  to  be  sent  where  and  when  needed  and  stored  when  not,  all 
under  a  central  control.  This  would  very  considerably  reduce  the  present  investment 
in  packages,  and  by  causing  the  purchase  of  more  lasting  packages  by  using  these 
more  continually  and  more  carefully,  the  expense  for  packages  which  tlie  consumer 
finally  pays  would  be  much  reduced ;  and  also  because  the  cost  of  packages  which  is 
often  a  deterrent  upon  the  shipping  of  low  margined  foodstuffs  would  be  removed, 


207 


this  would  aid  to  bring  into  market  the  desirable  volume  of  these  low  priced  food- 
stuffs. 

The  Buildings. — To  design  a  market  proportionately  throughout  it  is  necessary 
to  fix  upon,  mentally  at  least,  some  maximum  capacity  for  this  market,  and  to  de- 
sign all  parts  for  this  capacity  in  accordance  with  the  scheme  of  operation  to  be  used. 

The  market  having  been  located  in  a  certain  district,  with  reference  to  the  con- 
veniences of  railroad  and  boat  as  well  as  street  transportation,  and  the  limits  of  the 
district  which  it  will  serve  when  this  district  is  well  populated  having  been  marked 
by  the  distances  through  which  goods  can  economically  be  carted,  the  number  of 
retailers  should  be  determined  from  an  actual  count  of  the  number  of  retailers  in 
an  equal  area  of  a  similar  type  in  a  well  built  up  portion  of  the  city. 

The  standing  room  in  market  for  the  wagons  of  these  retailers,  which  is  one  of 
the  big  floor  space  factors,  will  to  a  considerable  extent  depend  upon  the  market 
organization  adopted.  For,  if  the  retailer  can  come  at  his  convenience,  early  or  late,, 
and  can  buy  quickly,  without  disparagement,  fewer  retailers  will  be  in  market  at 
any  one  time  and  less  standing  room  need  therefore  be  provided. 

This  standing  room  should  be  well  lighted,  well  ventilated,  and  yet  protected 
from  strong  drafts.  It  should  afford,  by  wide  gangways,  easy  access  to  the  retailers' 
wagons  so  that  the  goods  bought  can  be  promptly  and  easily  loaded  at  any  time 
convenient  to  the  retailer,  and  should  have  easy  access  at  all  times  to  the  streets, 
outside. 

If  market  standards  and  inspection  are  perfected  to  such  a  point  that  sales  of  all 
goods  can  be  made  by  description  and  by  sample,  the  sales  halls  can  be  very  com- 
pact, resulting  in  quick  and  sharp  trading.  If  few  standards  of  much  acceptance 
hold,  as  at  present,  the  sales  halls  will  probably  have  to  be  spread  out  enough  to 
exhibit  all,  or  the  big  bulk  of  the  goods  entered  for  sale  in  the  day's  market. 

If  the  goods  are  entered  the  day  before,  inspected  and  listed  by  the  market  in- 
spectors, the  goods  need  in  many  cases  be  handled  but  once,  from  car  to  retailer's 
wagon.  If  the  goods  are  not  sold  by  standard,  but  by  inspection,  as  at  present,  so 
many  grades  are  frequently  mixed  in  a  carload  as  to  require  regrading  of  the  car  in 
justice  to  the  shipper  and  to  the  retailer.  This  means  one  additional  rehandling,  and 
requires  room  therefor  and  place  to  exhibit  the  regraded  goods  for  sale. 

,  Most  markets,  because  of  their  size  and  somewhat  central  location  in  the  district 
they  serve,  will  be  approached  from  more  than  one  direction.  It  will  therefore,  in 
general,  be  possible  to  have  approaches  arranged  so  that  the  standing  room  for  the 
purchasers'  vehicles  can  be  on  more  than  one  level,  thus  economizing  on  the  ground 
area  required  for  the  market. 

It  seems  probable  that  farmers  will  not  much  longer  bring  in  produce  by  horse- 
drawn  vehicles,  but  that  the  amounts  brought  in  may  increase,  and  that  motor  vehicles 
will  be  used  for  this  purpose.  Provision  of  stalls  for  farmers,  if  made,  should  there- 
fore be  temporary,  and  should  occupy  a  space  intended  for  the  future  growth  of 
some  other  market  function. 

Lodging  rooms  for  farmers,  bathrooms,  and  restaurants  should  properly  occupy 
those  spaces,  such  as  the  upper  stories  of  the  buildings  which  are  not  required  for 
the  more  important  functions  of  the  market. 

If  possible,  the  sales  halls  should  be  all  on  one  level  and  as  compact  as  possible. 
Whether  such  a  market  will  ever  become  a  trading  center  for  the  big  staples  which 
are  now  dealt  in  upon  the  Produce  Exchange  is  problematical — in  fact,  it  is  question- 
able that  much  advantage  would  lie  in  endeavoring  to  mix  the  purchasing  problems 
of  the  manufacturers  with  those  of  the  retailers.  But,  if  such  were  done,  it  seems 
quite  plain  that,  since  the  buyers  would  be  a  quite  different  set  of  people  in  the  two 
cases,  the  sales  halls  should  be  separate  and  apart. 

Facilities  should  be  provided,  preferably  between  the  market  entrance  and  the 


208 


standing  room  of  the  vehicles,  where  returnable  packages  can  be  deUvered  by  the 
retailers  and  credited. 

Provision  should  be  made  for  the  cold  and  cool  storage  of  all  but  non-perishable 
articles  which  arrive  to  be  placed  on  immediate  sale.  This  should  be  arranged  so 
that  the  goods  from  the  time  of  their  arrival  at  market  until  their  departure  can  be 
so  kept  that  deterioration  will  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  There  should  also  be  some 
provision  for  the  cool  or  cold  storage  of  goods  which  are  to  be  held  for  distribution 
throughout  the  year.  Storage  of  this  sort  in  the  market  will  inevitably,  because  of 
the  higher  land  rentals  and  of  the  higher  costs  of  coal  and  labor,  be  more  expensive 
than  in  storage  houses  located  either  in  the  producing  centers  or  at  railroad  transfer 
points.  But  there  should  be  provided  enough  such  storage  room  to  keep  on  hand  a 
supply  sufficient  to  tide  over  strikes  and  disasters  of  the  usual  maximum  duration. 

Goods  perfectly  well  graded  and  packed  can,  for  very  temporary  storage  until 
placed  on  sale,  and  within  the  demurrage  time  allowed  on  the  cars,  at  least,  be  kept 
on  the  car  near  the  market.  If  these  be  refrigerator  cars,  ice  will  be  required,  and 
this  the  cold  storage  plant  should  be  equipped  to  provide. 

But,  if  all  goods  be  graded  and  packed  in  accordance  with  rigid  market  standards, 
trackage  room  in  market  will  be  needed  only  for  perishable  articles,  and  for  such 
proportions  of  the  less  perishable  articles  as  the  smaller  retailers  carry  back  to  their 
stores  in  their  own  wagons.  The  remainder  of  the  less  perishable  articles  could  be 
■delivered  from  that  railroad  delivery  point  nearest  to  the  retailers'  stores. 

It  seems  sufficient,  therefore,  if,  in  each  market  enough  railroad  trackage  be 
•provided  to  permit  upwards  of  three-quarters  of  enough  cars  to  be  placed  at  one 
time,  as  below  indicated,  to  contain  all  of  the  goods  which  that  market  at  its  maxi- 
mum is  designed  to  sell  in  any  one  day. 

For  the  utmost  dispatch  in  handling,  it  seems  desirable  that  all  unskilled  persons, 
and  all  persons  whose  interest  might  lead  them  to  pilfer,  should  be  kept  off  the 
unloading  floor  or  floors,  and  that  the  cars  should  be  so  placed  and  separated  that 
goods  can  be  trucked  in  any  direction  from  any  car  to  elevators  or  chutes  leading 
to  the  retailers'  wagons. 

So  that  if  the  scheme  of  market  organization  which  will  be  used  in  the  near 
future  be  decided  upon,  the  design  of  the  buildings  and  other  facilities  flows  there- 
from easily  and  logically. 

It  has  herein  been  sought  to  show  how  much  of  the  expense  of  foodstuffs  to  the 
consumer  is  caused  by  the  present  haphazard  organization  of  our  markets,  and  how 
little  can  be  hoped  in  amelioration  from  mere  facilities  without  adequate  market 
organization. 

Appendix 

Quotation  from  "Freight  Terminals  and  Trains,"  by  Droege,  Page  2 

"But,  taking  an  average  month,  it  is  shown  by  the  monthly  statistics  of  the 
American  Railway  Association's  Committee  on  Relations  between  Railroads  that,  in 
May,  1911,  freight  car  performance  was  as  follows: 


Mileage  of  roads  reporting   223,680 

Revenue  (producing)  freight  cars  owned   2,174,628 

Per  cent,  of  cars  in  shop   7 . 83 

Freight  car  mileage   1,626,664,629 

Average  miles  per  car  per  day   23.7 

Per  cent,  of  loaded  car  mileage   67.4 

Average  ton  miles  (revenue  and  non-revenue)  per  car  mile 

(loaded  and  empty)   14 . 2 

Average  ton  miles  (revenue  and  non-revenue)  per  loaded 

car  mile   21.2 

Average  ton  miles  (revenue  and  non-revenue)  per  car  per 

day  


209 


Since  the  average  speed  of  a  freight  train  from  terminal  to  terminal,  including 
road  delay,  is  from  10  to  15  miles  per  hour,  it  is  plain  that  2  to  3  hours  in  a  train 
will  give  a  freight  car  the  average  mileage  per  day  shown  by  the  above  statistics. 
This  indicates  that  freight  cars  are  in  motion  just  about  10  per  cent,  of  the  time." 


XIV.    ABSTRACTS  OF  TESTIMONY  TAKEN  BY  THE  COMMISSION 


TRANSPORTATION 

J.   D.  REMINGTON, 

Special  Agent  of  the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company 

I  am  in  the  Freight  Department  of  the  railroad  and  am  located  at  Grand  Central 
Terminal.  I  have  been  in  this  position  seven  years.  I  supervise  the  handling  of 
freight  both  coming  to  and  going  from  the  City  of  New  York.  The  freight  traffic 
manager  has  direct  charge  of  the  perishable  goods  coming  into  the  New  York  Mar- 
ket. I  know  of  the  cars  that  are  running,  when  they  are  coming  and  where  they 
are  going,  and  I  assist  in  making  the  schedules  to  take  care  of  the  movement  of 
them.  If  anyone  has  any  complaint  to  enter  as  to  manner  in  which  they  are  handled, 
he  naturally  comes  to  me  and  I  take  it  up  with  our  operating  department  or  our 
transportation  department. 

Perishable  goods  come  in  on  several  stations :  Barclay  Street,  Desbrosses  Street, 
33d  Street,  60th  Street,  130th  Street,  Melrose  Junction — according  to  the  commodity 
and  the  point  at  which  the  trade  wants  the  goods.  As  a  rule  the  shipper  states  the 
delivery,  although  the  shipper  is  governed  somewhat  by  the  rules  regulating  delivery. 
We  take  certain  commodities  at  certain  stations.  Barclay  Street,  for  instance,  is  a 
pier  station  with  no  track  delivery.  Any  freight  that  comes  to  Barclay  Street  must 
be  moved  there  on  car  floats.  This  station  takes  apples,  pears,  quinces,  garden 
roots,  such  as  potatoes — in  packages,  not  in  bulk — turnips,  beets,  onions,  and  that 
class  of  goods,  which  are  unloaded  on  the  pier.  In  the  morning  at  seven  o'clock 
the  consignees  sell  them  to  the  trade — retailers  and  others.  No  bulk  goods  are  re- 
ceived there;  they  are  all  in  packages. 

Desbrosses  Street  takes  peaches,  plums,  celery,  lettuce,  and  the  highly  perishable 
commodities,  and  makes  during  the  season  a  night  delivery  of  some  where  they  want 
to  take  the  goods  to  their  stores  to  sell.  The  market  people  in  New  York,  the 
Fruit  and  Produce  Trade  Association,  of  which  nine-tenths  of  the  commission  men 
and  wholesale  dealers  are  members,  have  a  Transportation  Committee,  which  regu- 
lates to  some  extent  the  rules  by  which  that  business  is  handled.  There  is  no  market 
at  Desbrosses  Street,  only  on  grapes.  During  the  fall  season  when  grapes  are  run- 
ning, they  are  sold  on  the  pier  or  on  the  bulkhead  to  dealers,  but  there  are  no  other 
commodities  sold  there.  And  all  of  the  fruits  and  vegetables  that  are  received  on 
Barclay  Street  are  not  sold  there.  The  receivers  take  them  to  their  stores  if  they 
so  desire.  At  Desbrosses  Street  there  are  no  bonnets  on  the  street — nothing  but  the 
pier.  There  is  a  marginal  market  in  West  Street,  but  it  is  never  used.  Those  bon- 
nets or  hoods  in  West  Street  are  in  front  of  Piers  27,  28,  and  29,  which  are  Pennsyl- 
vania piers,  and  in  front  of  the  Old  Dominion  Line  Pier  No.  26,  and  in  front  of  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  pier  farther  down  toward  Barclay  Street.  We  have  no  hoods 
or  bonnets  in  front  of  Barclay  Street,  which  are  Piers  16  and  17. 

The  goods  that  come  in  at  33d  Street  are  bulk  goods  as  a  rule — potatoes,  turnips, 
and  apples.  There  are  some  package  goods,  but  the  majority  are  in  bulk.  Sixtieth 
Street  is  an  export  proposition.  Very  little  stuff  comes  there  to  sell.  At  130th  Street 
the  receipts  are  very  light.    At  60th  Street  there  is  no  restriction  at  all.    All  kinds 


212 


of  goods  come  there,  but  there  is  no  market  distribution.  One  Hundred  and  Thirtieth 
Street  is  used  only  ordinarily  for  wine  grape  people.  There  are  certain  ones  located 
in  that  vicinity  that  buy  in  the  Brockton  Belt  wine  grapes  in  trays  and  get  them  in 
in  carloads  under  refrigeration,  and  they  sell  them  out  to  the  small  wine  merchants 
in  that  neighborhood.  Potatoes  and  apples  are  very  seldom  sold  there.  Occasionally 
a  car  of  apples  or  a  car  of  potatoes  may  come  there.  We  do  not  know  130th  Street 
as  a  delivering  proposition,  but  there  is  no  restriction  on  it.  If  a  man  wanted  a  car 
of  apples  sent  to  130th  Street,  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  say  so  and  it  would  go  there 
and  be  delivered  there. 

Melrose  is  a  general  delivery  point.  Anything  goes  there — bulk,  package  goods, 
everything. 

We  do  not  make  estimates  of  the  quantities  of  the  various  commodities  received 
at  our  stations  and  could  not  give  them  without  figuring  up  the  amounts.  I  get  a 
daily  report  every  morning  of  every  car  of  fruit  and  vegetables  that  come  to  Barclay 
Street,  where  it  is  from,  who  for,  and  the  particular  commodity  in  it.  But  we  never 
compile  reports  covering  a  given  period  of  time.  We  now  and  then  tally  on  com- 
modities from  certain  sections.  For  instance,  we  are  developing  now  in  western 
New  York  a  peach  growing  belt.  It  is  interesting  to  know  how  that  is  coming 
along;  so  I  do  know  just  how  many  cars  of  peaches  we  had  out  of  our  western 
New  York  peach  growing  belt  this  year  and  where  they  went.  Some  roads  compile 
reports  by  packages  for  purposes  other  than  what  we  would  require.  For  instance, 
the  Pennsylvania  Pier  29  is  a  market,  and  there  is  certain  space  on  that  pier  for 
market  purposes  that  is  preferable  to  other  space.  Now,  in  the  distribution  or 
allotting  of  that  space  they  are  governed  by  the  amount  of  business  that  each  firm 
does,  and  for  the  purpose  of  knowing  from  year  to  year  who  the  coming  year  will 
have  first  choice  on  allotted  space,  the  railroad  keeps  track  by  packages  of  the  num- 
ber of  packages  that  each  firm  receives,  and  when  the  year's  business  is  done  and  it 
comes  time  to  assign  the  spaces,  they  will  figure  out  that  some  firm  had  the  greatest 
number  of  packages  and  they  are  entitled  to  first  choice,  and  so  on  in  order  of  im- 
portance, determining  importance  by  the  number  of  packages  received  in  the  previous 
year  by  the  particular  firms.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  we  cannot  tell  tonnage  or 
quantity  that  comes  by  dock  delivery  from  our  record.    We  can,  of  course,  do  that. 

The  capacity  of  a  pier,  of  course,  depends  on  the  rapidity  of  delivery.  I  have 
known,  within  the  last  four  weeks,  of  our  having  125  cars  down  at  Barclay  Street 
on  a  Monday  morning.  Monday  is  our  largest  day,  because  there  is  no  market  on 
Sunday  and  on  Monday  we  get  the  accumulation.  We  have  several  times  been 
obliged,  without  a  hood  or  shelter,  to  unload  and  use  the  "Farm,"  as  it  is  known, 
the  space  between  the  bulkhead  and  the  track  in  West  Street.  I  think  there  have  been 
days  in  the  last  month  that  we  perhaps  used  that  space  for  25  or  30  cars  in  addition 
to  the  pier.  The  pier  can  accommodate,  I  should  say,  100  cars  at  once.  The  market 
at  Barclay  Street  starts  at  7  a.  m.  We  deliver  from  then  on  as  long  as  they  want. 
It  is  the  understanding  with  the  trade  that  any  business  that  cannot  be  put  down 
and  unloaded  on  the  pier  at  7  a.  m.  won't  come  down  until  the  next  day.  It  is  held 
at  the  upper  yards  or  over  in  Jersey  at  Weehawken.  The  trade  come  down  to  make 
their  purchases,  and  when  they  come  there  at  7  o'clock  the  retailers  and  others  want 
to  find  all  there  is.  By  half  past  nine  or  ten  o'clock  most  of  the  people  have  made 
their  selections  and  purchases,  and  gone.  There  is  no  market  building  there.  The 
pier  itself  is  covered,  but  there  is  nothing  in  the  way  of  refrigeration  or  protection 
from  the  sun  except  the  covering  of  the  pier.  There  was  a  time  when  we  used  both 
Piers  16  and  17  for  ordinary  house  freight— package  delivery  of  merchandise— with- 
out confining  one  to  fruits  and  vegetables,  but  as  that  business  has  grown.  Pier  17 
is  to-day  given  up  entirely  to  fruits  and  vegetables. 

The  trucks  drive  in  on  the  pier  to  get  the  stuff  there,  and  there  is  the  same  con- 


213 


gestion  there  in  the  busy  part  of  the  market  that  there  is  on  every  other  fruit  or 
vegetable  receiving  pier  of  any  other  road  in  the  city.  There  is  considerable  con- 
gestion, which  must  result  in  delay  in  the  delivery  of  the  goods.  In  the  busy  part 
of  the  market  they  get  blocked,  as  they  do  in  front  of  the  Pennsylvania  piers.  If 
you  go  down  there  at  2  o'clock  in  the  morning,  you  will  see  in  the  busy  season  it 
will  take  25  or  30  officers  to  keep  the  teams  in  line.  The  cost  of  such  delay  is  of 
course  put  on  the  goods. 

We  are  not  troubled  with  delays  and  congestion  at  33d  Street,  or  60th  Street,  or 
130th  Street,  that  I  know  of. 

I  have  been  around  among  the  markets  for  a  good  many  years.  I  have  been 
associated  with  the  perishable  freight  business,  traveling  all  through  the  South 
and  West  in  the  growing  sections  during  their  season,  so  that  I  am  acquainted  to 
some  extent  with  the  perishable  goods  trade  in  New  York  City.  I  think  that  the 
present  methods  of  distribution  within  New  York  City  could  be  changed  for  the 
better  so  that  there  would  be  a  gain  in  quickness. 

What  is  known  as  The  Bronx  of  New  York  has  over  500,000  people.  That  is 
one-eighth  of  the  people  in  Greater  New  York.  Greater  New  York  has  a  population 
of  one-twentieth  of  the  entire  population  of  the  United  States.  The  methods  of  dis- 
tribution in  the  City  of  New  York  are  not  what  they  should  be.  It  does  not  seem 
right  to  me  that  The  Bronx  which,  if  it  was  a  separate  city  would  be  the  eighth  or 
ninth  largest  city  in  the  United  States,  should  be  obliged  to  be  a  tail  to  the  head  of 
Greater  New  York.  My  idea  has  always  been  that  The  Bronx  should  be  treated  as 
separate  and  distinct  as  a  delivering  point  as  if  it  were  a  city  of  itself  located  200 
miles  away.  There  are  more  people  in  The  Bronx  to-day  than  there  are  in  Buffalo. 
I  would  establish  a  market  there  and  make  direct  deliveries  to  that  market. 

What  is  the  use  of  a  railroad  pulling  down  over  the  Hudson  Division,  which  has 
a  funeral  procession  of  trains  all  the  while — the  tracks  are  full  of  them — pulling 
clear  down  to  New  York,  requiring  your  good  people  up  there  to  take  their  wagons 
and  drive  down  10  miles  to  load  up  and  cart  their  goods  back  to  deliver  to  the 
hucksters  and  grocers?  There  is  no  reason  why  The  Bronx,  Melrose  Junction,  if 
you  please,  should  not  take  direct  from  the  West,  from  New  York  State,  from  all 
growing  sections  their  products,  which  should  never  see  Spuyten  Duyvil  and  the 
West  Side  down  to  Desbrosses  Street,  Barclay  Street,  St.  John's  Park,  130th  Street, 
or  any  other  place  downtown.  They  should  be  treated  as  a  separate  proposition  and 
dealt  with  right  there.  I  am  speaking  now  of  The  Bronx  because  we  reach  The 
Bronx  by  direct  trackage.  I  have  not  studied  the  other  boroughs  of  the  city  so 
much  as  I  have  The  Bronx.  I  have  been  quite  interested  in  The  Bronx  for  some 
little  time.  You  know  we  have  had  measures  under  foot  to  make  some  changes. 
We  have  just  increased  the  capacity  of  the  Westchester  Avenue  house  there  so  that 
it  will  relieve  Melrose  Junction  and  enable  us  to  have  more  room  for  the  delivery 
of  this  stuff  at  Melrose  Junction.  When  this  problem  is  settled,  as  it  must  be  and 
will  be  by  direct  delivery  to  that  great  city  of  The  Bronx,  we  will  take  one-eighth 
of  the  deliveries  to  Greater  New  York  that  we  now  receive  at  Barclay  Street  and 
Desbrosses  Street  and  other  points  distant  from  The  Bronx,  and  deliver  those 
products  where  they  belong.  That  would  take  just  that  percentage  of  the  business 
out  of  the  congested  section  of  New  York  and  relieve  the  situation  just  so  much. 

When  I  speak  of  a  market  I  mean  a  railroad  terminal  where  goods  can  be 
delivered.  I  have  not  gone  into  the  specific  kind  of  market.  Direct  delivery  of 
goods  into  The  Bronx  would  relieve  the  congestion  on  the  lower  West  Side  to  just 
the  extent  that  The  Bronx  has  to  come  down  there  for  their  goods  now. 

I  do  not  know  whether  it  would  be  an  advantage  from  a  redistributing  point 
of  view  if  the  goods  that  are  now  delivered  at  several  points  along  the  West  Side 
could  be  carried  to  one  delivery  point.    Custom  regulates  that.    Naturally  a  person 


214 


would  say,  what  has  the  lower  section  of  Greater  New  York  to  do  with  having 
any  of  the  trade  down  there?  The  people  that  consume  the  goods  are  not  there — 
but  the  houses  are  down  there.  Concentrating  the  deliveries  at  one  point  has 
worked  out  very  satisfactorily  in  other  cities.  Take  the  city  of  Pittsburgh  to-day. 
Pittsburgh  has  a  produce  market  at  the  16th  Street  station.  It  does  not  make  any 
difference  whether  the  stuff  comes  from  the  West,  from  the  East,  from  the  North, 
or  from  the  South ;  whether  it  comes  Panhandle  or  how  it  comes.  It  comes  into 
that  market.  It  is  run  right  into  that  one  terminal.  It  is  a  union  terminal,  of  the 
Pennsylvania  lines  west  and  east,  not  the  other  roads,  but  they  handle  probably  85 
per  cent,  of  all  the  fruits  and  vegetables  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh.  You  go  into 
Baltimore  and  you  will  find  the  Bolton  yards ;  go  into  Philadelphia  with  its  South- 
west Philadelphia  Market ;  go  into  Newark  with  their  Market  Street  yards — they 
have  one  central  point  to  handle  that  particular  commodity;  that  is,  on  the  one 
road. 

So  far  as  I  know,  there  has  never  been  any  disposition  here  to  make  a  union 
terminal.  Of  course,  things  become  congested.  Take,  for  instance,  the  California 
fruit  received  by  the  Erie  because  of  their  facilities  at  Duane  Street  and  their  con- 
nections. The  Erie  has  established  an  auction  system,  and  naturally  the  orange 
and  deciduous  fruit  people  get  goods  where  they  are  sold  at  auction.  They  just 
as  naturally  go  to  Duane  Street  for  that.  There  are  seasons  of  the  year  when  so 
much  of  it  comes  along  that  the  day  is  not  long  enough  to  sell  it.  We  have  had 
auctions  from  8  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  7  o'clock  in  the  evening,  yet  car 
after  car  was  left  over  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  The  auction  method  disposes 
of  goods  quickly. 

Richmond  is  a  B.  &  O.  proposition.  We  have  no  stations  there.  If  we  had 
goods  consigned  to  Richmond  we  would  give  them  to  the  B.  &  O.  to  take  over 
there.  We  have  a  station  in  Brooklyn — Wallabout  Station.  We  have  a  car  float 
connection  but  no  yard.  We  deliver  to  our  Wallabout  Station.  Of  course,  we 
have  the  different  terminal  companies  over  there — the  Bush  Dock,  the  Brooklyn 
Eastern  District,  the  Jay  Street  Terminal,  and  the  New  York  Dock  and  others — 
from  which  we  receive  goods  and  to  which  we  deliver  goods  in  Brooklyn.  Those 
are  private  terminals.  If  goods  originate  at  the  Bush  Docks,  with  their  great  in- 
dustrial warehouses,  it  is  loaded  there  in  cars.  We  have  a  classification  of  cars  over 
there  for  Chicago,  Cleveland,  and  different  points,  and  the  cars  are  brought  over  to  us 
at  our  68th  Street  berth  or  at  Weehawken,  to  go  by  the  West  Shore.  Most  of  it  is  for 
the  west  side  of  the  river.  And  that  is  under  a  contract  with  the  terminal  companies 
for  handling.  When  our  car  goes  to  one  of  those  docks  it  is  practically  turned  over 
to  the  terminal  company,  and  they  handle  it  and  pay  all  expenses  of  handling  it  and 
float  it  with  their  own  floats.  Wallabout,  Brooklyn,  is  our  own  station.  We  have  our 
own  agent  there,  just  the  same  as  at  Barclay  or  Desbrosses  Street.  Long  Island  City 
is  handled  by  the  Long  Island  Railroad  Company.  We  interchange  business  with  the 
Long  Island  Railroad,  of  course.  If  they  have  business  from  their  own  road  that  is 
going  to  Syracuse  they  will  bring  it  to  Long  Island  City,  put  it  on  the  floats  and  bring 
it  over  to  our  68th  Street  bridges  and  deliver  it  to  us  to  take  to  Syracuse.  Where 
shipments  emanate  from  places  like  the  Bush  Docks,  they  go  for  the  regular  New 
York  rate,  without  additional  charge.  Anything  coming  within  lighterage  limits 
of  New  York  would  be  approximately  the  same.  The  rate  from  Bush  Docks  to 
Chicago  is  exactly  the  same  as  the  rate  from  New  York  to  Chicago.  All  of  Brooklyn, 
Queens,  The  Bronx,  and  Richmond  enjoy  the  New  York  rate. 

I  have  thought  a  great  deal  about  the  better  distribution  of  perishable  foods  in 
New  York  City,  and  I  have  read  many  articles  on  the  subject,  a  great  many  by  people 
who  evidently,  from  my  viewpoint,  did  not  know  what  they  were  talking  about.  They 
condemn  what  they  call  the  middleman,  and,  in  some  respects,  call  the  middleman  a 


215 


highway  robber.  Why,  they  could  not  do  without  the  middleman.  He  is  just  as 
essential  to  the  distribution  of  goods  as  it  is  essential  to  have  some  one  grow  the 
goods. 

The  present  methods  of  distribution,  so  far  as  some  sections  taking  a  direct 
delivery  is  concerned — The  Bronx,  for  instance — could  be  much  relieved.  But,  no 
matter  what  you  could  do,  in  the  busy  portion  of  the  year,  where  things  have  been 
congested  for  years,  I  do  not  know  how  you  could  remedy  that.  It  has  been  tried 
by  the  railroads.  Some  years  ago  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  when  the  business  got 
very  heavy  this  side  of  the  river,  so  much  so  that  things  were  congested,  tried  to 
arbitrarily  force  a  delivery  of  those  goods  on  the  Jersey  side.  That  was  just  simply 
a  failure.  The  people  would  not  go  there.  No  attempt,  that  I  know  of,  has  ever 
been  made  by  any  railroad  to  combine  with  other  railroads  in  the  formation  of  a 
union  terminal.  All  efforts  have  been  made  on  the  part  of  individual  roads  for 
the  bettering  of  their  own  business. 

I  have  for  a  good  many  years  been  associated  with  the  perishable  fruit  and  vege- 
table business  of  the  country.  I  have  been  engaged  more  or  less  in  the  development 
of  methods  in  this  respect — in  going  into  communities  and  pointing  out  to  them  how 
they  might  in  all  points  benefit  themselves  and  their  own  community  by  development 
of  crops  and  diversifying  crops  that  in  some  sections  were  neglected;  where  the 
Almighty  in  His  wisdom  had  provided  the  facilities  for  rotation  of  crops,  and  there 
seemed  to  have  been  a  missed  cog  in  the  wheel  in  those  particular  places.  I  have 
endeavored  to  show  them  how  they  could  drop  in  some  commodity  and  raise  it 
which  would  result  in  making  a  continuous,  rotating  movement  out  of  that  com- 
medity.  I  have  run  onto  some  interesting  things  in  connection  with  that. 

Take  Long  Island,  for  instance,  with  its  cauliflower  industry.  There  is  a  highly 
satisfactory  climate  and  there  is  the  salt  air  passing  over  that  enables  them  to 
produce  a  wonderful  cauliflower.  But  four  weeks  earlier,  in  Cape  May  county, 
with  the  salt  air  from  the  ocean  blowing  directly  over  the  same  soil,  they  can  produce 
the  same  crop.  By  producing  it  there  that  makes  the  season  just  so  much  longer. 
The  result  is  the  doubling  of  produce  and  the  doubling  of  the  season.  We  did  a 
good  bit  of  that  kind  of  work.  We  did  a  great  deal  of  that  development  work,  and 
we  used  to  bring  in  the  seed  houses  and  the  men  familiar  with  that  part  of  it. 
Of  course,  the  railroads,  with  their  increased  speed  and  increased  refrigerating 
facilities,  have  made  the  seasons  very  much  longer.  For  instance,  there  was  a  time 
on  strawberries  when  the  season  for  strawberries  was  only  six  weeks  long.  That 
was  all  the  time  that  we  could  get  strawberries.  Now  you  start  in  in  February 
with  the  Florida  strawberries  and  you  have  strawberries  until  the  middle  of  next 
July  from  northern  New  York.  This  works  two  ways — to  the  advantage  of  the 
producer  and  the  consumer  and  also  to  the  advantage  of  the  transportation  company. 
In  July  the  same  cars  after  refrigeration  are  taking  berries  south  from  northern 
producing  states  that  in  May  were  taking  them  from  North  Carolina  north  to  those 
same  points.  The  methods  used,  and  the  increased  speed,  and  the  entire  situation 
make  a  very  interesting  study. 

Distribution. — The  distribution  of  a  crop  from  any  large  growing  section  is 
interesting,  not  as  applied  specially  to  the  distribution  of  New  York  City  and  its 
various  places,  but  distribution  itself  is  intensely  interesting.  The  word  distribution 
covers  a  lot,  and  regulates,  to  a  certain  extent,  this  matter  of  the  cost  of  high 
living.  The  producer  naturally  must  make  money.  If  he  doesn't  he  won't  produce. 
The  railroads  are  anxious  for  the  grower  to  make  money.  The  more  he  makes  the 
more  his  growth  will  be.  The  greater  his  growth  the  greater  the  quantity  to  be 
shipped.  The  greater  the  quantity  shipped  the  more  money  there  is  to  the  carrier  and, 
naturally,  the  better  the  price  to  the  consumer. 

Now,  on  the  question  of  railroads:    It  is  doubtful  if  railroads  get  proper  credit 


216 


for  the  part  they  take  in  the  development  of  the  agricultural  sections.  I  remember 
having  been  the  pioneer  in  the  North  Carolina  strawberry  growing  belt.  I  went  in 
there  a  number  of  years  ago  and  found  that  400  cars  of  strawberries  from  North 
Carolina  were  distributed  to  only  12  markets.  That  then  was  the  largest  year  they  had 
ever  had.  I  happened  to  be  in  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  at  a  meeting  of  the 
directors  of  the  North  Carolina  Fruit  Growers  and  Truck  Growers'  Association. 
When  asked  by  them  whether  I  had  any  suggestions  to  make  to  better  their  condi- 
tion I  told  them  I  did  not  come  up  there  to  run  their  business,  but  that  the  thought 
occurred  to  me  that  they  did  not  give  their  crop  a  wide  enough  distribution.  I  told 
them  that  400  cars  to  12  markets  was  not  enough  markets.  You  can  glut  New  York 
just  as  easy  as  Binghamton,  New  York,  by  sending  too  much  fruit  there,  and  when  too 
much  fruit  goes  to  any  market  the  prices  are  bound  to  go  down  to  a  point  where 
money  is  lost  by  everybody.  I  said  to  them,  now  send  your  goods  to  more  markets, 
and  then  and  there  we  took  up  the  task  of  increasing  the  distribution.  Nine  years 
after  that,  remembering  when  I  first  met  them  that  they  shipped  400  cars  to  12 
markets,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  that  that  year  they  shipped  3,200  carloads 
to  82  different  markets.  That  was  a  pretty  good  result  and  it  was  entirely  due  to  co- 
operation on  the  part  of  the  societies,  the  railroads,  and  everybody  to  make  a 
proper  distribution.  The  result  was  entirely  satisfactory  to  the  growers  and  to 
the  consumers  and  to  the  carrier.  Everybody  was  benefited.  But  82  markets  was 
not  enough.  We  had  3,500  carloads  of  peaches  out  of  western  New  York  this  year 
on  our  rails.   We  sent  them  to  275  markets.    That  is  distribution. 

It  is  known  to-day  that  there  are  enough  trees  planted  and  not  bearing  in 
western  New  York  to  make  possible  five  years  hence,  if  it  is  a  good  peach  year, 
the  necessity  of  our  assisting  in  the  distribution  of  10,000  carloads  of  peaches,  and 
that  is  1,000  cars  more  than  was  ever  moved  out  of  a  peach  producing  section  in 
the  world  in  one  year.  Fifteen  years  ago  Delaware  shipped  9,000  cars  in  one  year. 
That  was  the  greatest  number  ever  shipped  from  one  section.  Two  years  ago  Georgia 
shipped  7,200  cars.  That  is  the  second  largest  year.  So  you  see  we  are  in  line  in 
a  very  short  time  to  be  up  to  the  point  where  we  are  going  to  be  away  up  top 
among  the  peach  producing  sections,  but,  in  order  to  be  that,  the  railroads  must  keep 
pace  with  the  times  and  help  toward  finding  places  to  ship  those  peaches.  That 
is  one  of  the  functions  of  a  railroad  corporation  that  the  public  does  not  appreciate, 
and  yet  which  costs  the  railroads  enormous  sums  of  money  every  year. 

We  suggest  the  places  and  assist  in  creating  them  to  the  extent  of  even  inducing 
men  to  go  into  the  business.  Of  course,  the  shipper  has  his  own  option  as  to  where 
they  shall  go.  I  remember  one  place  where,  in  a  good  city  in  our  eastern  states,  they 
had  no  commission  men.  The  city  was  big  enough  to  take  a  carload  of  North 
Carolina  berries  every  other  day,  but  there  was  no  one  there  to  handle  them.  I 
went  to  that  city.  I  went  to  a  wholesale  grocer  and  asked  him  why  he  could  not 
go  into  that  business.  I  said,  here  is  good  money  for  you  and  there  is  no  reason  why 
you  cannot  pick  up  a  couple  of  thousand  dollars  this  year  right  on  that.  He  said, 
that  is  out  of  our  line.  I  said,  is  it  any  more  out  of  your  line  than  to  handle  cold 
storage  products  in  connection  with  a  butcher  business?  He  commenced  to  think. 
He  said,  how  can  we  do  that?  I  said,  there  are  several  ways — you  can  buy  the 
goods  outright  or  you  can  receive  them  on  consignment  and  sell  them  for  a  com- 
mission. Your  city  ought  to  be  on  the  map  and  ought  to  be  a  receiving  point.  He 
got  on  the  map.  And  that  city  has  taken  anywhere  from  three  to  five  cars  a  week 
of  North  Carolina  strawberries  every  year  since  that  time,  thanks  to  the  railroad  for 
suggesting  the  way  to  the  receiver  and  to  the  shipper — but  the  railroad  got  no  thanks 
for  taking  that  part  in  it. 

We  have  more  of  a  problem  to  solve  assisting  in  the  development  of  the  agricul- 
tural regions  than  the  average  person  understands.    You  have  read  of  our  farm 


217 


trains.  They  are  our  educational  trains  that  we  run.  It  was  my  duty  as  special 
agent,  I  should  say  it  was  my  privilege  and  pleasure  as  special  agent,  to  be  sergeant- 
at-arms  and  conductor  of  those  farm  trains  run  through  agricultural  sections. 
And  it  was  indeed  a  pleasure  to  hear  the  Cornell  experts  and  others  explain  to  the 
farmers  things  they  did  not  know  and  listen  to  the  questions  by  persons  about  what 
they  wanted  to  know.  That  was  most  interesting.  It  cost  us  a  lot  of  money,  but  it 
was  money  well  invested.  It  was  sowing  the  seed.  We  commence  now  to  perceive 
where  benefits  are  coming  from  and  that  the  communities  are  bettered. 

If  a  producer  can  be  assured  of  a  good  market  he  is  likely  to  produce  more  goods. 
If  he  finds  he  has  made  money  on  a  10-acre  peach  patch  this  year,  he  is  induced  to 
put  in  five  acres  more  next  year,  if  he  thinks  it  will  pay  him  to  do  so;  but,  if  he  lost 
money  on  them  this  year,  he  would  not  be  so  apt  to  increase  his  acreage.  A  good, 
steady-priced  market,  the  price  being  such  as  to  enable  the  producer  to  realize  a 
reasonable  profit,  is,  of  course,  the  ideal  thing.  Nobody  expects,  in  these  days,  to  get 
rich  on  a  farm  the  first  year,  but  he  does  not  want  to  lose  money  on  it. 

I  do  not  know  what  percentage  of  perishables  is  brought  here  by  the  diflterent  lines. 
Of  course,  the  southern  produce,  the  all-rail,  is  largely  brought  by  the  Pennsylvania. 
But,  you  take  Norfolk,  Virginia.  That  is,  for  ninety  days  in  the  year,  the  largest 
shipping  station  of  perishable  freight  that  there  is  in  the  world.  Ninety-five  per  cent, 
of  this  comes  here  by  water  over  the  Old  Dominion  Line.  Sections,  according  to  the 
commodity,  differ.  If  Georgia  this  year  has  4,500  carloads  of  peaches,  probably  1,500 
of  them,  or  one-third  of  the  crop,  will  come  to  New  York  City.  In  our  estimating 
our  western  New  York  peach  belt  this  year  I  was  keeping  tabs  to  see  how  close 
New  York  came  to  getting  one-third  of  the  western  New  York  State  peaches. 
They  did  not  do  it.  They  only  took  one-fifth.  Now  conditions  diflfer  according  to 
other  peach  crops.  Western  Maryland  and  New  Jersey  have  peach  crops.  Con- 
necticut did  have  last  year,  but  not  this.    Those  things  are  regulated  by  seasons. 

It  is  a  hard  matter  to  tell  how  this  question  of  distribution  of  products  to 
Greater  New  York  fruits  and  vegetables  can  be  handled  to  the  best  advantage. 
You  take  downtown,  where  the  markets  are  now,  with  the  Old  Dominion  Line 
and  the  Desbrosses  Street,  our  pier,  and  the  Clyde  Line  and  the  Ocean  Steamship 
Company  and  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  and  the  Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey  and 
our  Barclay  Street  pier,  etc.,  they  are  all  there.  That  is  where  the  commission 
houses  are,  that  is  where  the  stores  are,  and  that  is  where  the  trade  is.  It  is  a 
long  way  from  the  places  where  the  stuff  goes  to  be  finally  disposed  of.  To  some 
it  would  appear  ridiculous  that  everybody  has  to  come  down  to  Barclay  Street  after 
apples ;  and  to  Duane  Street  after  oranges ;  and  to  Pier  No.  29  for  their  southern 
truck.  But  that  is  a  condition.  It  is  there.  The  dealers  are  located  down  there. 
It  would  be  a  pretty  hard  proposition  to  get  away  from  there.  If  we  tried  to  move 
the  points  of  delivery  farther  up  the  river  I  don't  know  whether  the  trade  would 
follow  or  not.  I  know  that  every  time  we  have  made  any  endeavor  to  go  west,  as 
Horace  Greeley  said,  we  have  had  the  entire  trade  opposed  to  it.  In  regard  to  The 
Bronx  I  am  speaking  only  for  the  New  York  Central  Railroad.  We  reach  The 
Bronx,  have  plenty  of  ground,  and  go  there  direct  over  our  own  rails,  and  we  have 
a  place  at  Westchester  Avenue  to  take  care  of  merchandise  business  with  increased 
facilities;  and  we  have  the  great  Melrose  yard  for  track  delivery  and  for  a  market 
house  delivery,  making  a  market  in  an  open  house  there  the  same  as  on  Pier  29. 
Personally,  I  would  like  to  see  Melrose  Junction  put  on  the  same  footing  as  Pier 
29  is  to-day,  and  I  would  like  to  see  some  of  the  large  commission  houses  down 
town  have  branches  established  up  in  The  Bronx  to  sell  directly  to  The  Bronx  their 
goods,  so  that  the  people  would  not  have  to  come  'way  downtown  for  them  and  haul 
them  back  there.    Those  are  my  personal  views. 

Of  course,  there  are  several  schemes  of  a  market  proposition  for  The  Bronx. 


218 


There  is  a  possibility  that  a  market  could  be  made  up  there  that  could  be  supplied  not 
only  by  our  direct  railroad  connection,  but  could  be  supplied  by  all  other  railroads  by 
the  water  connection.  Of  course,  just  as  much  as  you  make  a  direct  delivery  to  The 
Bronx  you  are  relieving  the  downtown  section.  If.  in  proportion  to  its  population, 
you  can  deliver  directly  to  The  Bronx  all  products  of  this  kind  consumed  in  The 
Bronx,  you  would  relieve  the  congestion  downtown  to  the  extent  of  one-eighth,  and 
even  more  than  that.  It  is  greater  than  that  because  you  must  figure  on  Yonkers  and 
Mt.  Vernon  and  those  places  where  they  all  come  down  just  the  same  as  the  dealers 
in  The  Bronx.  If  you  go  up  to  Van  Cortlandt  Park  at  any  time  at  nine  o'clock  and 
stand  there  you  will  see  dozens  of  teams  coming  from  Yonkers  to  Pier  29  and 
Barclay  Street  to  get  their  wagonload  of  stuff  which  they  haul  back  up  to  Yonkers 
to  sell.  If  we  had  a  market  at  Melrose  Junction  they  would  not  have  to  go  any 
farther  than  that.  We  would  like  to  see  them  get  carload  shipments  directly  to 
Yonkers,  so  far  as  that  is  concerned.  Yonkers,  you  must  remember,  is  a  city  of  80,000 
people,  and  abundantly  able  to  stand  on  its  own  bottom.  It  ought  not  to  be  neces- 
sary to  pass  by  Yonkers  to  get  stuff  delivered  there  for  sale  to  customers  in  Yonkers. 
How  absurd  it  is  to  bring  goods  directly  through  Yonkers  away  downtown  and 
then  require  teams  from  Yonkers  to  come  downtown,  get  the  goods,  and  take  them 
back  to  Yonkers.  But  you  will  see  team  after  team  coming  down  from  there,  making 
a  20-mile  haul,  to  go  back  to  be  huckstered  out  at  your  door  at  The  Bronx  and  in 
Yonkers. 

There  is  business  enough  in  The  Bronx  for  the  establishment  of  an  auction  house 
for  oranges.  If  Buffalo,  New  York,  with  less  population  than  The  Bronx,  can  have 
one ;  if  Cleveland,  Ohio,  has  two ;  if  Detroit  can  have  two ;  if  other  cities  of  the 
size  of  The  Bronx  can  have  one  or  three  auction  houses  which  can  live,  The  Bronx 
is  certainly  big  enough  to  have  one.  And  that  would  relieve  the  downtown  section 
to  just  that  extent. 

We  would  be  glad,  indeed,  to  run  a  Bronx  train  from  the  West  Albany  yard 
directly  into  Melrose  Junction,  McComb's  Dam,  or  any  other  place  agreed  upon,  just 
as  we  would  to  come  to  Spuyten  Duyvil,  take  the  West  Side  tracks  and  go  down  to 
72d  Street  yard  to  float  down  to  Desbrosses  or  any  of  the  downtown  stations. 
We  could  make  just  as  quick  a  delivery  at  the  same  rate  and  we  would  be  glad 
to  do  it. 

Of  course,  different  cities  have  different  hours  for  market  purposes.  In  Boston 
where  the  open  market  is  in  Faneuil  Hall  the  teams  back  up  to  the  cars  and  are 
loaded  with  perishable  fruit  and  cannot  get  out  of  the  yard  until  the  bell  rings  at 
6  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Then  the  gate  is  thrown  open  and  the  teams  go  up  and 
back  up  to  the  street  and  the  market  is  on.  In  New  York  City  at  Pier  29  when 
perishable  goods  are  coming  in  from  the  South,  the  market  is  one  o'clock  on  highly 
perishable  goods  and  three  o'clock  for  ordinary  fruits  and  vegetables.  At  Buffalo, 
New  York,  the  market  is  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Baltimore  has  a  two  o'clock 
market.  There  is  no  early  sale  in  Baltimore.  If  they  wanted  to  establish  in  The 
Bronx  the  same  market  hours  that  the  downtown  houses  have  there  is  no  reason 
why  they  should  not;  nor  is  there  any  reason  why  they  should  not  establish  a  dif- 
ferent hour.  That  is  up  to  them.  You  could  have  a  market  at  five  o'clock,  at  eight 
o'clock,  three  o'clock,  one  o'clock. 

The  point  is,  how  to  reach  the  point  of  distribution.  Of  course,  if  you  get  a 
McComb's  Dam  market,  which  is  on  the  carpet  now,  where  you  have  a  rail  connec- 
tion from  us  and  a  water  connection  from  everybody  else,  then  you  have  that 
solved.  If  Melrose  Junction  was  an  open  track  delivery  and  market  sheds  were 
there  so  that  goods  could  be  sold  as  on  Pier  29,  the  question  of  getting  your  stuff 
from  the  South  in  the  winter  months  coming  in  here  by  the  B.  &  O.  and  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  to  that  market  is  an  open  question.    I  do  not  think  getting  them 


219 


in  over  the  New  York  Connecting  Bridge  would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  handle. 
If  you  had  your  market  at  McComb's  Dam  it  could  be  floated  around  there.  We 
could  not  now  bring  mixed  carload  stuff  around  from  Barclay  Street.  Barclay 
Street  is  not  a  track  station  on  our  road;  it  is  a  float  station.  We  don't  want 
the  stuff  to  go  to  Barclay  Street  at  all,  but  to  go  direct  to  The  Bronx  from  the 
point  of  origination. 

There  are  a  lot  of  people  who  attribute  the  high  cost  of  living  to  the  middleman, 
and  try  to  do  away  with  the  middleman.  My  thought  is  that  they  are  on  the  wrong 
track.  Middlemen  are  essential  in  assisting  distribution — as  essential  as  the  railroads. 
The  farmer  would  make  very  poor  headway  under  the  postal  service  or  parcels  post  in 
trying  to  sell  direct. 

J.  G.  June, 

Superintendent  of  Terminals.  Erie  Railroad 

I  have  been  connected  with  the  Erie  Railroad  about  four  years. 

Our  terminals  in  New  York  City  are  as  follows :  Pier  No.  7  on  the  East  River, 
Piers  20  and  21  on  the  North  River,  Pier  39  at  the  foot  of  West  Houston  Street,  28th 
Street  Station,  and  49th  Street  Station,  Wallabout  Station  in  Brooklyn.  We  have 
no  terminals  in  Richmond  or  Queens,  but  in  The  Bronx  a  contract  terminal  at  131st 
Street.  At  Pier  7,  East  River,  we  deliver  package  and  carload  freight;  no  perishable 
goods  except  carload  meat.  That  is  mostly  a  carload  delivery.  At  Pier  20  we  de- 
liver citrus  and  deciduous  fruits  for  the  California  Fruit  Association.  There  are 
two  auction  rooms  on  the  pier  and  sales  are  conducted  there.  At  Pier  39  we  make 
carload  deliveries  of  merchandise,  but  no  perishable  goods.  At  the  28th  Street 
station  there  is  a  track  delivery  of  perishable  goods  in  bulk — in  carload  lots.  Apples 
and  potatoes  are  brought  there  in  bulk.  No  perishable  goods  are  delivered  at 
49th  Street. 

We  keep  track  of  the  deliveries  made  at  Piers  20  and  21,  and  make  monthly  com- 
pilations. Pier  20  is  not  at  all  times  big  enough  for  the  shipments  that  come.  This 
year  at  times  we  had  more  than  we  could  put  on  the  pier.  The  capacity  of  the  pier 
is  about  96  cars  and  the  bulkhead  about  18  to  20  cars — about  118  cars  in  all.  When 
there  is  more  than  we  can  handle  we  keep  the  surplus  under  refrigeration  until  the 
next  day.  Sometimes  it  is  left  on  the  float  and  tied  to  the  pier,  so  as  to  be  ready 
for  unloading  the  following  morning. 

We  do  not  have  anything  to  do  with  the  trucking  from  the  pier.  The  time  of 
greatest  congestion  on  the  piers  is  in  August  and  September  and  sometimes  the 
first  part  of  October,  whenever  there  is  an  unusual  movement  of  fruit.  These  con- 
gested periods  naturally  result  in  delays  in  delivery.  I  cannot  say  whether  such 
delays  result  in  much  spoilage,  as  we  deliver  the  goods  on  the  pier  and  then  lose 
sight  of  them. 

I  believe  that  too  much  concentration  is  sure  to  make  delay,  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  establishing  more  facilities  cannot  help  but  eliminate  a  good  deal  of  the  delay 
and  congestion. 

The  perishable  goods  delivered  by  our  road  are  apples,  peaches,  pears,  grapes, 
onions,  celery,  and  potatoes.  During  my  connection  with  the  railroad  the  trade  in 
perishable  goods  has  increased.  Last  year  was  the  heaviest  year  we  have  had — I  sup- 
pose we  had  about  25  per  cent,  more  then  than  in  any  previous  year.  The  trade  seems 
likely  to  grow  as  the  city  grows  and  the  congestion  to  increase  unless  more  facilities 
are  provided.  We  figure  on  an  extension  of  our  own  operations  to  relieve  our  own 
congestion. 

Last  fall,  to  relieve  conditions,  we  opened  a  pier  at  Pier  10,  but  the  effort  was 
lost  entirely  because  the  consignees  would  not  consign  their  shipments  to  Pier  10.  If 


220 


they  could  not  have  Pier  20  they  would  not  have  any.  So  we  did  not  get  much  oi 
a  result  except  some  shipments  of  onions  and  some  grapes.  We  turned  merchandise 
to  Pier  10  in  our  effort  to  take  care  of  the  congestion  in  fruit.  We  sent  freight  which 
we  got  on  Pier  21,  which  is  a  merchandise  pier,  to  Pier  10  and  then  made  room  on 
Pier  21  for  the  fruit  shipments.    Pier  20  is  a  fruit  pier — it  is  equipped  with  heat. 

A  union  terminal,  if  it  helps  any  road,  would  help  us,  but  I  doubt  if  a  union 
terminal  is  going  to  relieve  the  situation.  We  have  too  much  at  one  point  now. 
We  have,  it  seems  to  me,  too  much  business  in  one  place.  Instead  of  that  it  ought 
to  be  distributed.  If  we  can  distribute  our  business  to  all  our  different  piers  pro- 
portionately to  the  business — the  customers  in  the  vicinity — our  congestion  would  be 
eliminated  entirely,  but  we  cannot  do  that.  You  cannot  establish  customers.  We 
have  not  been  able  to  make  them  go  where  they  did  not  want  to  go.  Of  course,  we 
have  to  deliver  goods  where  they  are  consigned.  A  union  terminal  will  help  if  you  can 
get  the  shippers  to  consign  to  it;  but,  if  the  shippers  would  not  consign  to  it,  it 
would  not  do  any  good. 

W.  C.  Eastman, 

Special  Agent  of  the  Manhattan  Division  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 

I  have  been  connected  with  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  nearly  32  years  and  have 
been  special  agent  since  1901  for  the  New  York  section  in  the  handling  of  freight 
and  piers.  For  the  past  25  years  I  have  spent  a  great  deal  of  my  time  looking 
after  the  movement  and  operation  of  fast  freight  and  special  freight  trains,  and  our 
service  in  handling  perishable  freight.  We  furnish  transportation  for  perishable 
goods  all  over  the  United  States — from  California,  Arizona,  Texas,  the  South,  New 
Orleans,  Mississippi;  from  every  State,  almost,  in  the  Union,  but  the  vast  amount  of 
it  comes  from  Florida,  the  Carolinas,  Georgia,  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  the  Norfolk 
district.  The  very  large  percentage  of  it  is  what  we  call  strictly  the  southern  perish- 
ables. The  highly  perishables  which  come  to  this  market,  such  as  peaches,  pears,  etc., 
from  north  of  Cape  Charles  and  north  of  Baltimore,  are  delivered  in  our  yards 
in  Jersey  City.  How  much  of  that  comes  through  New  York  I  cannot  say.  The 
same  highly  perishables  from  south  of  Cape  Charles  and  Baltimore  are  delivered 
principally  to  Pier  29,  North  River,  near  Desbrosses  Street.  Highly  perishables  are 
delivered  in  Jersey  City;  ordinary  perishables  at  piers  20  and  29,  and  some  also  in 
Jersey  City.  By  highly  perishables  I  mean  peaches,  berries,  cantaloupes,  early  apples, 
early  onions.  We  do  not  deliver  them  in  New  York  City  because  we  have  no 
facilities  there  to  do  so.  If  we  could  get  the  facilities  we  could  make  the  deliveries 
here. 

Up  until  1901,  for  instance,  we  delivered  watermelons  at  Pier  29  in  New  York 
City.  I  think  in  the  summer  or  early  fall  of  1902  we  had  to  commence  and  deliver 
watermelons  from  the  cars  on  the  tracks  at  the  Jersey  City  yards.  Pier  29  was  not 
large  enough  to  take  care  of  the  increased  perishable  freight  and  the  watermelons 
too,  and,  as  watermelons  are  not  highly  perishable  freight,  we  transferred  them  to 
Jersey  City. 

The  delivery  of  perishable  freight  is  not  confined  to  piers.  We  have  had  it 
delivered  actually  from  the  street  on  West  Street,  in  front  of  the  hoods  and  north  and 
south  of  the  hoods.  We  deliver  in  New  York  City  at  Pier  29  and  from  the  street 
in  front  of  Pier  29,  and  at  Wallabout,  Brooklyn,  by  car  floats.  Very  little,  if  any, 
is  delivered  at  the  regular  merchandise  stations,  at  our  37th  Street  and  38th  Street 
yards.  We  bring  all  kinds  of  food  products  to  New  York — canned  goods,  flour — 
almost  everything.   Cereals  are  delivered  at  Piers  1  and  4,  27,  28,  37th  Street,  North 


221 


River,  and  125th  Street,  Harlem  River.  We  take  very  little  up  to  our  125th  Street 
Station.  It  is  within  the  lighterage  limits  and  takes  the  same  rate.  We  have  no 
carfloat  connection  on  The  Bronx  side.  We  earn  no  more  in  delivering  to  The  Bronx 
and  charge  no  more  than  if  we  had  a  terminal  there.  On  the  Brooklyn  side  we 
have  the  Brooklyn  E.  D.  Station,  at  the  foot  of  North  4th  Street,  and  the  Wallabout 
Station  in  the  Wallabout  Basin,  and  we  deliver  at  the  Jay  Street  terminal,  the  New 
York  Dock  and  the  Bush  Docks. 

The  present  facilities  are  adequate  for  the  traffic  with  the  exception  of  when 
we  have  some  of  these  fearful  rushes,  when  the  lines  will  be  adequate  to  do  the  work 
but  the  terminals  will  not.  In  other  words,  the  markets  will  not  take  care  of  the 
goods.  Then  there  are  the  changes  in  demand.  Take,  for  instance,  watermelons. 
They  will  come  here  and  be  put  on  the  tracks  for  delivery  in  Jersey  City,  and  if  you 
have  a  little  cool  weather  people  do  not  want  watermelons;  they  won't  take  them. 
But  the  watermelons,  nevertheless,  will  keep  coming  in  and  are  still  being  shipped 
from  the  South.  As  a  consequence  you  are  liable  to  have  150  to  200  carloads  of 
watermelons  on  hand.  They  won't  take  them  as  fast  as  they  are  shipped  and 
received  here.  I  hardly  know  how  you  can  remedy  a  situation  like  this.  You  cer- 
tainly cannot  compel  a  man  to  eat  watermelons  if  he  doesn't  want  them.  But,  if  I 
were  a  shipper  and  found  the  market  of?  in  New  York,  I  would  certainly  try  to 
ship  to  some  other  place  where  I  could  get  a  market  for  my  product.  We  can 
hardly  force  things  on  an  unwilling  market. 

Where  we  have  to  keep  the  cars  in  our  yards  it  leads  to  congestion.  We  add  no 
charges  for  that.  The  largest  proportion  of  melons  are  shipped  to  a  consignee  who 
pays  the  charges.  They  are  shipped  on  commission.  As  I  understand  it,  he  pays 
the  freight  charges,  deducts  them  from  the  price  for  which  they  sell  and  deducts  his 
commission  and  makes  a  corresponding  return  to  the  shipper.  If  there  is  congestion, 
the  delay  cost  comes  out  of  our  pocket,  of  course.  We  would  be  benefited  if  terminal 
facilities  were  made  better,  so  that  the  terminals  would  be  sufficient.  We  would 
be  benefited  if  there  was  a  terminal  where  we  could  run  our  cars  and  unload  them 
speedily. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  what  effect  facilities  will  have  on  marketing.  We  will  load 
up  Pier  29  with  perishable  freight  and  market  men  will  come  there.  There  will 
be  any  number  of  them  to  buy,  but  they  will  wait  in  the  hope  that  the  prices  will 
go  down.  They  will  not  take  the  goods  quickly.  They  have  to  buy  quickly  when 
the  time  comes,  but  they  cause  much  congestion  by  waiting  and  holding  the  stuff  on 
the  pier,  where  it  congests  the  pier  and  compels  us  to  hold  stuff  on  the  other  side 
that  ought  to  come  over  and  be  unloaded.  That  congestion  has  a  tendency  to 
diminish  business.  It  certainly  diminishes  the  amount  of  freight  you  can  deliver,  and 
to  that  extent  it  diminishes  the  price  for  the  producer  to  send  stuff  in  here  and 
makes  a  poorer  market  for  him. 

There  are  two  markets  at  Piers  27,  28,  and  29.  The  first  market  in  the  California 
season  is  opened  at  1  a.  m.  That  is  for  peaches,  berries,  cantaloupes,  etc.,  and  the 
stuff  is  put  on  the  front  of  the  bulkhead.  When  the  vegetable  market  commences 
it  is  opened  at  3  a.  m.  and  that  is  put  on  Pier  29  under  the  hoods  and  out  in  the 
street  and  north  of  Pier  28  on  the  bulkhead.  There  is  a  congestion  of  wagons  out 
there  until  the  morning,  until  they  get  rid  of  the  biggest  portion  of  that  stuff.  All  this 
congestion  leads  to  higher  prices  and  less  consumption.  Nobody  is  benefited  by  these 
conditions.  A  terminal  market,  I  should  say,  would  be  a  relief  if  it  were  large  enough 
and  were  located  conveniently.  It  would  hardly  be  unless  it  was  put  on  the  water- 
front where  the  floats  could  get  to  it  quickly  and  get  unloaded  and  get  away. 
A  terminal  market  would  need  to  be  accessible  to  boats  and  trains. 

The  receipts  of  highly  perishable  goods  start  in  the  latter  part  of  March  and 


222 


begin  to  get  heavy,  and  then  run  heavy  up  until  the  middle  or  toward  the  latter  part 
of  September.  The  very  heaviest  work  of  the  year  is  in  May  and  June.  They 
come  all  the  j'ear  round,  but  those  are  the  heaviest  portions  of  the  year.  There  is 
no  time  when  we  are  not  receiving  perishable  freight,  and  during  other  times  of  the 
year  other  railroads  further  north  are  bringing  in  perishable  goods,  so  that  there 
is  a  succession  the  year  round  of  perishable  goods  coming  in  from  the  different  roads. 
The  season  begins  in  Florida  and  we  are  running  some  little  stuff  from  Florida 
now  (January).  Then  we  get  in  a  second  crop  of  vegetables  before  the  Carolina 
stuff  begins  to  come.  Then  the  Norfolk  comes  along.  So  I  should  say  that  a  large 
terminal  market  would  have  a  continuous,  all-the-year-round  succession  of  perishable 
goods  coming  in  over  all  the  railroads ;  but  it  would  have  to  be  a  very  large  market. 
I  think  it  would  have  a  tendency  to  establish  prices  and  make  a  continuous  supply 
and  demand  the  year  round. 

If  the  causes  of  loss  in  delays,  congestion,  etc.,  could  be  eliminated,  the  producer 
would  be  likely  to  get  more  for  his  produce,  and  that  would  encourage  him  to  raise 
more.    That  would  benefit  him,"  the  carrier,  and  the  consumer. 

If  this  freight  were  run  into  a  terminal  market  that  had  refrigeration  that  would 
save  re-icing.  That  is  done  by  the  shippers  and  at  the  shippers'  expense  at  the  present 
time  and  that  expense  could  be  done  away  with  under  improved  circumstances.  The 
re-icing  charge  is  $2.50  a  ton  on  our  road.  It  is  actually  done  at  a  loss  to  the  road. 
We  have  to  shift  the  cars  from  one  part  of  the  yard  to  another  to  re-ice,  and  shift 
them  back  again  to  be  put  on  the  pier.  The  compensation  doesn't  pay  us  for  it,  but 
it  is  one  of  the  necessities  of  the  business.  It  also  means  further  congestion  of  our 
terminals. 

There  is  a  demurrage  charge  for  cars  kept  over  in  Jersey  and  that  is  covered 
by  a  tariff  which  I  can  send  you.  It  is  filed  with  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
The  regular  demurrage  charge  is  $1  per  car  per  day  after  48  hours.  We  have  had 
to  hold  watermelons  at  Jersey  City  in  the  meadows  50  or  60  cars  at  a  time  until 
they  could  be  accommodated  on  the  tracks  in  Jersey  City.  We  have  had  to  put 
embargoes  on  their  shipment  because  we  had  such  an  accumulation.  At  times  the 
commission  men  have  not  been  able  to  handle  them  because  they  have  not  been 
able  to  get  them  in  the  market,  on  account  of  congestion  in  the  market,  and  because 
there  was  no  place  to  receive  them.  I  have  known  cars  to  be  held  in  the  Jersey 
meadows  a  week  or  more.  It  is  not  a  frequent  occurrence,  but  it  is  an  occurrence 
when  you  have  a  congestion,  as  we  have  had  every  season  for  the  last  four  or  five 
years.    All  these  delays  tend  to  raise  prices  here  and  discourage  the  producers. 

When  cars  arrive  here  and  the  contents  are  in  such  condition  that  the  consignees 
are  forced  to  refuse  them  for  freight  charges,  they  are  passed  on  by  the  health 
officers  and,  if  there  is  anything  fit  for  sale,  it  is  turned  over  to  a  commission  man 
to  sell ;  if  not  fit  for  sale,  it  is  taken  off  and  destroyed.  Wherever  salvage  is  ob- 
tainable by  the  railroad  company  the  company  does  obtain  that  salvage  by  selling  the 
contents  of  the  car  and  getting  what  is  possible  to  get.  But  that  is  governed  entirely 
by  the  health  officer,  who  determines  whether  the  stuff  is  fit  to  sell  or  not.  If  we  had 
proper  distribution  in  New  York  there  would  be  no  such  delay  in  Jersey  Citj'.  Where 
the  cars  are  slow  in  moving,  the  cars  received  first  are  put  on  the  market  first,  so 
that,  in  the  case  of  watermelons  in  the  congested  season,  you  will  find  for  days 
and  days,  while  fresh  cars  are  arriving,  the  market  is  getting  the  older  cars  out  ot 
condition  and  by  the  time  the  fresh  cars  get  their  proper  position,  they  are  also 
out  of  condition.  The  delays  here  do  not  come  from  any  other  source  but  the 
lack  of  terminals.    Our  road  is  adequate  and  has  no  trouble  except  at  terminals. 


223 


H.  H.  Benedict, 

Assistant  General  Freight  Agent  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad 
and  New  England  Navigation  Company 

I  have  been  in  my  present  position  a  little  less  than  a  year,  but  in  the  business  for 
seventeen  years.  I  have  been  in  the  employ  of  this  railroad  for  seven  years, 
handling  the  general  freight  business  of  the  company  from  a  traffic  standpoint.  I 
am  located  at  Pier  14,  North  River. 

Our  delivery  point  in  Manhattan  for  railroad  delivery  is  Pier  39,  near  Mont- 
gomery Street;  our  Harlem  delivery  is  at  132d  Street  and  Lincoln  Avenue,  in  The 
Bronx.  The  boat  line  deliveries,  with  which  we  work  in  conjunction,  come  in  the 
New  Haven  at  Pier  27,  the  Bridgeport  Line  at  Piers  27  and  28,  East  River; 
the  Fall  River  and  Providence  Line  comes  in  at  Piers  14  and  15 ;  and  the  Norwich  and 
New  Bedford  Line  at  Pier  40.    Our  lines  serve  New  England  principally. 

Some  two  years  ago  I  became  much  interested  in  the  development  of  the  produce 
industry  in  The  Bronx,  with  the  idea  that  The  Bronx,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  eighth 
or  ninth  largest  city  in  the  country,  had  no  market  for  produce  to  speak  of.  Mer- 
chants up  there  had  to  come  downtown.  So  we  built  The  Bronx  produce  house  and 
built  it  about  1,100  feet  long  in  24  sections,  and  we  have  endeavored  as  far  as  possi- 
ble to  put  in  rates  with  all  railroads  in  the  United  States  on  a  flat  New  York  basis. 
That  connects  with  the  great  Pennsylvania  system  and  puts  almost  the  entire  country, 
except  some  of  the  nearby  points,  on  a  flat  New  York  rate  with  that  market. 
In  the  past  we  have  handled  principally  Maine  products,  potatoes,  onions,  turnips, 
but  it  has  been  difficult  for  us  to  develop  a  market  up  in  The  Bronx,  although  the 
facilities  are  all  there,  because  The  Bronx  merchants  come  down  here  where  they 
can  get  all  kinds  of  goods  in  the  market.  It  is  the  disadvantage  of  having  our 
market  on  the  single  line.  But  in  August  of  last  year  we  handled  quite  a  large 
quantity  of  produce  in  The  Bronx  where  the  year  before  we  handled  nothing,  due 
to  the  fact  that  we  had  rates  with  the  Pennsylvania  on  a  New  York  basis.  We  also 
make  carfloat  deliveries  in  the  Brooklyn  Eastern  District,  Northeast  Street,  New 
York  Docks,  Bush  Docks,  and  also  Warren  Street,  Jersey  City. 

Our  heaviest  traffic  has  been  the  marketing  of  potatoes  in  The  Bronx  during  the 
fall  and  winter  months,  but  in  the  general  produce  business  we  hope  to  maintain 
a  market  there  all  the  year  round.  There  would  be  no  difficulty  in  our  road 
delivering  goods  to  a  terminal  market  up  there  if  the  connections  were  feasible.  We 
would  want  to  be  assured  of  good  facilities.  So  far  from  there  being  any  objection 
to  it — I  have  been  going  to  your  meetings  for  two  years  to  keep  track  of  it;  we  are 
anxious  to  work  with  you.  Our  road  would  benefit  by  taking  goods  out  of  the 
market  as  well  as  bringing  them  in.  We  might  have  a  sale  of  goods  from  there  to  a 
local  point  like  Bridgeport  or  New  Haven.  So  it  would  be  to  our  advantage  to 
have  just  such  terminal  facilities  in  The  Bronx.  Our  deliveries  from  the  market,  of 
course,  would  continue  the  year  round,  while  our  heaviest  trade  now  is  bringing 
goods  into  the  market  simply  during  the  winter  months.  The  more  trade  out  of 
the  market,  the  bigger  it  would  grow  and  the  more  supplies  would  be  likely  to  come 
in,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  people  could  get  their  goods  cheaper.  There  would 
be  more  encouragement  to  farmers  to  produce  and  send  their  goods  in. 

At  present  we  are  not  bothered  with  terminal  congestion  in  The  Bronx,  as  far 
as  produce  goes.  We  have  gone  ahead  of  it,  perhaps.  We  have  almost  too  great 
facilities  for  our  business.  The  street  facilities  for  getting  into  our  yards  are  very 
fair.  We  have  an  entrance  at  the  lower  end  of  our  yard  and  a  gateway  at  the 
upper  end,  and  the  traffic  through  that  gateway  we  intend  to  encourage.  But  the 
streets  are  not  in  very  good  condition  there.    To  be  perfectly  frank,  the  only  trouble 


224 


with  our  market  there  is  that  the  trade  comes  down  here  and  does  not  come  to  us 
as  much  as  we  hoped  it  would,  although  we  have  practically  a  New  York  rate  with 
all  lines  except  the  Jersey  Central  and  the  New  York  Central.  We  will  be  glad  to 
take  in  all  the  other  roads  into  our  terminal  at  a  slight  return  to  us  in  order  to 
encourage  the  produce  business  there. 

WHOLESALE 

Joseph  E.  Reid, 

Produce  Commission  Merchant 

I  have  been  personally  in  this  business  about  twenty  years;  my  firm  has  been  in  it 
for  55  years.  We  handle  goods  on  consignment  from  the  various  seaports  and  dif- 
ferent sections  of  the  country — Porto  Rico,  Cuba.  We  take  in  practically  everything 
in  the  produce  line.  We  do  not  specialize  in  any  particular  commodity,  but  handle 
all  lines  of  goods  in  varying  quantities  at  different  seasons  of  the  year.  At  some 
seasons  of  the  year  we,  of  course,  handle  very  heavily  in  one  line  and  other  things 
at  other  seasons  of  the  year,  depending  upon  the  season  and  nature  of  the  product. 
There  are  seasons  of  the  year,  of  course,  when  certain  commodities  are  not  in  the 
market  practically  at  all.  But  we  take  in  practically  all  lines  during  the  various 
seasons  of  the  year.  Our  house  probably  handles  $1,500,000  worth  of  produce  in  a 
year,  wholesale  value. 

In  nearly  every  case  the  goods  are  shipped  to  us  directly  by  the  producers.  There 
are  some  cases  where  a  man  may  purchase  goods  at  the  point  of  shipment  and  ship 
them  to  us  on  consignment.  We  sell  at  wholesale  by  private  sale.  We  do  not  sell 
at  auction  at  all.  Various  receivers  sell  produce  of  various  kinds  at  auction — apples, 
potatoes,  fruits,  including  oranges,  pineapples,  grapefruit.  There  are  three  or  four 
concerns  that  act  as  auctioneers.  They  have  auctioneers  on  the  Erie  Railroad  dock. 
There  are  auctioneers  that  handle  a  great  deal  of  Porto  Rico  fruits  and  vegetables 
and  that  handle  the  goods  for  the  receiver — licensed  auctioneers. 

Railroad  delivery  consists  of  the  placing  of  the  goods  in  our  hands,  in  our  care, 
by  the  railroad  company.  Railroad  delivery  to  the  purchaser  means  the  delivery  of 
an  order  to  him  for  the  goods.  The  railroad  delivery  here  in  New  York  on  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad,  for  instance,  would  be  the  placing  by  the  railroad  company 
in  the  department  of  each  receiver  the  goods  assigned  to  him.  That  is  what  I  con- 
sider to  be  the  railroad  delivery  to  us.  The  cars  are  brought  over  from  Jersey 
City  on  floats  owned  by  the  railroad.  Their  own  men  put  the  goods  on  trucks  and 
bring  them  out  to  us.  The  goods  are  then  right  in  our  care.  There  is  no  railroad 
delivery  by  automobile  or  horse-drawn  trucks  in  the  city. 

The  goods  are  shipped  to  us  on  consignment  and  the  commission  merchant  to-day 
who  has  to  handle  these  goods  must  do  so  to  the  best  advantage  possible  for  his 
shipper.  There  are  very  crude  ideas  about  what  a  commission  merchant  is.  In  the 
first  place,  the  commission  merchant  is  in  competition  with  all  other  commission 
merchants.  In  some  cases  the  goods  are  divided  by  the  shipper  and  each  commission 
merchant  probably  is  doing  his  utmost  to  obtain  the  highest  price  he  can  for  his 
particular  shipper,  to  get  the  best  net  results.  There  is  a  vast  difference,  however, 
between  the  price  charged  by  the  commission  merchant  or  the  price  at  which  he 
sells  and  the  price  paid  by  the  consumer. 

We  have  some  goods  that  are  delivered  to  our  store — potatoes,  we  will  say. 
They  will  sell  at  a  certain  price  at  wholesale.  A  bag  of  potatoes  averaging  180 
pounds  will  sell  perhaps  for  $2.25.  That  is  only  about  IJ^  cents  a  pound.  Those 
potatoes  may  be  sold  to  what  might  be  classed  the  jobbers.   The  jobber  has  to  take 


225 

them  to  his  particular  store  and  dispose  of  them  in  a  great  many  cases  by  small 
measure.  He  sells  them  to  the  retailers.  He,  of  course,  expects  to  make  a  certain 
profit  besides  the  handling  of  his  potatoes  and  cartage.  The  grocer  then  sells  them 
to  the  consumers.  I  have  bills  where  potatoes  costing  $2.25  by  the  bag  of  about 
180  pounds,  costing  therefore  about  1J4  cents  a  pound,  were  sold  by  the  grocer  four 
quarts  for  25  cents,  or  about  6J4  cents  a  quart,  whereas  they  did  not  cost  originally 
over  1J4  cents  a  quart.  That  would  be  $5  a  bag,  where  at  wholesale  they  cost  $2.25. 
There  are  about  2%  pounds  in  a  quart. 

I  want  to  show  that  these  things  are  not  faults  for  which  the  commission  merchant 
is  entirely  responsible.  The  so-called  high  prices  being  paid  to-day  are  the  result  of 
the  additional  charge  made  by  the  retailer.  Sweet  potatoes  cost  on  the  average  $1.50 
to  $2  a  barrel;  that  is  not  over  3  cents  a  quart.  I  find  that  the  retailer  charges 
12j4  cents  a  quart.  Of  course,  in  all  these  articles  considerable  has  to  be  allowed 
for  waste  and  additional  costs  after  the  goods  leave  the  commission  merchant. 
Cauliflower  sells  from  $1.50  to  $3  a  barrel;  that  is  practically  6  cents  a  head,  and 
it  retails  at  20  cents.  Where  they  cost  9  cents  they  retail  at  30  cents.  That  is  an 
advance  of  nearly  300  per  cent.  Then  again,  take  the  condition  of  our  onion  market. 
At  the  present  day  (December,  1912)  onions  are  practically  a  drug  on  the  market 
and  the  price  at  which  the  commission  merchant  will  sell  onions  is  about  a  cent  and 
a  half  a  quart.  I  have  bills  where  at  the  same  time  the  retailers  have  charged  10  and 
15  cents  a  quart. 

Of  course,  the  retailer  has  considerable  in  the  way  of  loss  that  the  consumer 
does  not  realize,  because  he  is  unacquainted  with  the  causes  of  that  loss.  For  in- 
stance, he  may  buy  corn  on  the  market  for  $1.50  a  hundred.  Every  housewife  when 
she  goes  there  examines  the  corn,  and,  if  the  corn  does  not  suit  her  after  opening 
it,  she  throws  it  back.  The  next  housewife  does  practically  the  same  thing.  Of 
course,  a  certain,  portion  of  that  wasted  or  injured  product  has  to  be  disposed  of 
at  a  price  way  below  the  regular  price.  I  am  only  saying  this  to  account  for  the 
difference  between  the  price  that  is  paid  to  the  first  handler,  the  commission  mer- 
chant, and  the  price  that  ultimately  is  paid  by  the  consumer. 

Then  again,  take  the  crops  in  the  different  years.  The  price  of  goods  varies.  A 
good  many  consumers  cannot  understand  why  they  have  to  pay  more  at  one  time 
for  goods  than  at  another  time.  I  claim  that  is  largely  due  to  supply  and  demand. 
Some  seem  to  think  that  those  two  words  should  be  put  on  the  shelf,  but  I  think 
those  two  words  and  the  weather  conditions  have  a  great  deal  to  do  with  prices  ob- 
tained for  goods  to-day  on  the  market. 

.  I  do  not  know  that  I  would  care  to  say  that  delays  in  the  delivery  of  goods  here 
at  the  terminals  help  to  add  to  the  cost  of  these  things.  For  instance,  I  have  figures 
to-day  of  one  line  that  has  handled  a  maximum  of  14,000  carloads  in  a  week.  On  Sun- 
day night  they  unloaded  314  cars;  the  other  five  nights  of  the  week  they  unloaded 
an  average  of  220  carloads.  They  say  that  had  they  unloaded  or  had  to  unload  300 
carloads  every  night  the  market  could  not  have  held  up,  the  prices  could  not  have 
held  up  and  the  market  perhaps  would  have  become  glutted.  The  goods  would  have 
been  allowed  to  stand  and  would  not  have  been  disposed  of,  and  the  loss  would  have 
been  very  great.  If  there  were  314  carloads  unloaded  Sunday  night  and  the  trade 
could  only  take  225  or  230  carloads,  you  would  have  from  50  to  75  carloads  to  be 
held  over  on  the  dock  until  the  next  day. 

If  prices  were  lower  they  might  take  them  off,  but  that  would  lower  the  prices 
of  all  of  them.  That  might  be  of  benefit  to  the  city,  but  not  to  the  farmer.  Some- 
times the  farmer  could  afford  to  take  less  for  his  product  per  unit  if  he  could  sell 
more  goods.  It  is  possible  that  that  would  bring  him  in  a  greater  gross  return. 
Sometimes  the  condition  of  the  market,  due  to  the  immense  quantities  coming  in,  is 
what  we  call  a  glutted  condition  and  the  goods  will  not  move.    There  are  no  means 


226 


of  handling  them  so  they  can  move.  If  the  trade  will  take  the  goods  off  fast 
enough  there  will  be  no  delay.  The  railroad  company  claims  that,  if  they  could 
unload  314  cars  Sunday  night  and  the  yards  and  docks  were  not  congested,  they 
could  unload  314  cars  on  Monday  night. 

Trucks  are  often  delayed.  Sometimes  a  truck  will  have  a  number  of  parties  to 
call  upon  for  its  goods.  The  truckman  may  be  delayed  by  some  one  ahead  of  him.  I 
do  not  know  that  there  is  any  unusual  congestion  along  those  lines. 

On  this  question  of  the  314  cars  unloaded  in  one  night :  The  capacity  of  the  piers 
is  not  large  enough  to  hold  314  cars  unloaded  at  once.  If  they  were  absolutely  clear 
of  all  material  they  could  not  unload  314  cars  at  one  time  and  place  them  on  the 
piers  and  under  the  bonnets.  Part  of  the  material  has  to  be  removed  before  the  rest 
can  be  unloaded.  There  is  considerable  variation  in  the  value  of  the  commodities  un- 
loaded at  1  A.  M.  and  the  same  commodities  ready  for  delivery  five  hours  later. 
The  later  price  is  considerably  lower  when  the  market  hours  are  practically  over. 
If  the  market  opens  at  one  o'clock  the  buyers  are  there  and  ready  to  buy.  They  want 
the  goods  on  their  stands  as  early  as  possible  and  they  pay  much  higher  for  the 
early  delivery  than  for  the  goods  obtained  later  in  the  day.  The  market  hours 
vary  according  to  the  season.  Fruits  open  at  the  earlier  hours,  at  1  o'clock;  produce 
about  two  hours  later,  in  order  to  give  an  opportunity  for  the  fruit  to  be  moved 
out  of  the  way,  because  it  is  more  perishable.  In  order  to  get  the  best  prices,  delivery 
must  be  made  in  the  early  market  hours.  And,  if  the  volume  of  goods  is  not  delivered 
during  those  hours,  the  supply  is  shorter  than  it  would  be  if  they  were  delivered 
before  the  market  hours.  The  supply  being  shorter  the  prices  which  retailers  charge 
will  be  larger  to  the  consumer.  There  is  an  increase  in  the  price  to  the  consumer 
by  reason  of  the  lack  of  handling  facilities.  There  are  not  handling  facilities  suffi- 
cient to  take  care  of  these  goods  in  the  profitable  hours  to  have  them  unloaded  all 
at  one  time.  If  the  goods  could  all  be  unloaded  promptly  at  the  same  time,  I  think 
the  prices  would  average  considerably  lower. 

The  necessity  for  early  buying  is  prompted  largely  by  the  buyers  from  outlying 
districts  who  are  compelled  to  make  their  market  at  an  early  hour.  The  price 
largely  regulates  the  quantity  they  buy.  If  the  prices  are  10  or  15  per  cent,  lower 
to  the  earlier  buyer  he  would  naturally  increase  his  requirements  proportionally.  So, 
if  all  the  goods  were  unloaded  and  ready  for  delivery  at  the  one  hour,  while  the 
price  would  not  be  as  high,  a  better  average  price  would  result.  There  would  not 
be  any  low  glut  price.  There  would  be  a  fair  average  price  that  all  consumers 
would  get  advantage  of.  That  would  undoubtedly  increase  the  quantity  of  foodstuffs 
consumed.  The  average  prices  being  better,  it  would  result  in  benefit  to  the  farmer, 
and,  as  the  farmer  raises  his  crops  according  to  results,  he  would  probably  raise 
more. 

So  better  handling  facilities  would  result,  in  the  first  place,  in  lower  prices  for 
the  consumer,  in  the  second  place,  in  an  increase  in  the  prices  to  the  farmer,  and,  in 
the  third  place,  to  probably  larger  aggregate  profits  to  the  retailers,  although  per- 
haps smaller  unit  profits,  and  an  increase  in  the  average  price. 

The  average  cartage  expenses  involved  from  the  terminal  to  the  storeroom  is 
about  six  cents  a  barrel.  A  large  sugar  barrel  would  probably  cost  7}^  to  10  cents. 
That  would  be  the  rate  for  the  zone  below  14th  Street.  Above  that  would  be  a 
higher  rate.  That  would  be  for  barrels  of  spinach,  kale,  lettuce,  etc.  That  is  the 
rate  agreed  upon  by  the  Market  Truckmen's  Association  and  various  associations 
that  are  interested  in  arriving  at  a  proper  charge.  That  rate  does  not  include  any 
rebates;  it  is  a  fiat  rate.  They  give  rebates  in  certain  lines,  I  think,  but  I  do  not 
think  the  commission  merchant  does  that.  He  has  his  own  trucks  or  else  employs 
them  at  a  certain  rate.  I  presume  they  arrive  at  this  flat  rate  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  congestion  on  the  streets  or  docks  whereby  these  trucks  are  delayed. 


227 


Of  course,  a  man  does  not  know  when  he  takes  a  certain  load  from  a  certain  pier 
whether  he  will  be  held  up  an  hour  or  whether  he  can  get  those  goods  off  in  10 
minutes,  so  it  is  necessary  to  average  it  up.  If  the  delays  were  eliminated  it  would 
seem  to  be  likely  that  competition  would  reduce  those  trucking  rates  and  the  result 
would  be  that  the  truckmen  would  get  just  as  good  a  compensation  and  at  the  same 
time  could  afford  to  haul  for  less.  It  is  not  unusual  for  a  truck  to  wait  from  8  p.  m. 
to  5  A.  M.  in  line  to  get  its  load  during  the  summer  months.  Then  they  get  some 
short  hauls  during  the  day  that  help  up  their  averages. 

The  vast  difference  between  wholesale  and  retail  prices  is  partly  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  waste  in  the  goods  before  they  are  finally 
disposed  of.  The  retail  grocer,  as  a  rule,  will  not  come  to  the  commission  merchant 
for  his  goods.  He  goes  to  the  jobber,  where  he  can  purchase  all  his  line.  The 
jobber  knows  what  his  trade  will  want  and  he  procures  from  the  market  the  various 
lines,  he  deals  with  the  various  receivers  and  he  gets  all  the  lines  he  needs  to  cover  his 
particular  trade.  Then  the  retail  grocer  will  go  to  him  and  purchase  his  single 
barrel  of  apples,  his  basket  or  barrel  of  lettuce  or  cauliflower,  and  such  goods  as 
he  wants.  Of  course,  there  has  to  be  a  price  for  cartage.  If  goods  are  taken  to 
Gansevoort,  or  Harlem,  or  Wallabout  Market  there  has  to  be  a  certain  price  added 
as  cartage  by  the  jobber,  and  he  naturally  must  get  a  certain  profit— 25  or  10  cents 
a  package,  as  the  case  may  be.  Then  the  grocer  buying  that  package  and  putting  it 
out  to  the  consumer  in  small  lots  may  lose  a  half  barrel  of  spinach  on  the  barrel, 
which  increases  the  cost,  and  he  must  make  it  up  in  the  balance.  There  may  be 
some  goods  that  have  to  be  thrown  away,  that  are  spoiled  or  left  over.  All  these 
things  go  into  the  increased  cost  that  the  consumer  has  to  pay.  It  must  also  be 
understood  that  the  retailer  must  live.  His  living  expenses  must  come  out  of 
his  work  and  included  in  his  expenses  must  be  considered  rent  and  very  many  other 
items.  If  he  could  purchase  his  goods  by  the  market  basket  from  the  commission 
merchant  at  the  rate  goods  are  sold  by  the  commission  merchant,  there  would  be  a 
vast  difference  in  the  price,  but  that  is  simply  impossible.  You  must  take  into  con- 
sideration that  this  army  of  jobbers  and  retailers  is  absolutely  necessary.  Their 
cost  must  come  in  somewhere.  Also  all  the  various  little  items  that  add  to  the 
expense  are  practically  inevitable. 

Produce  in  the  New  York  market  usually  passes  through  four  hands — the 
producer,  who  ships  to  the  commission  merchant;  then  the  jobber;  and  then  the 
retail  grocer.  Sometimes  there  is  a  fifth,  the  person  who  collects  from  the  farmers 
and  ships  to  the  commission  merchant,  but  that  is  exceptional. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  at  this  time  just  what  remedy  is  the  proper  one  for 
this  difference  in  prices.  I  believe  that  our  association  is  decidedly  in  favor  of  in- 
creased terminal  facilities  for  the  handling  of  goods.  Of  course,  we  know  what 
the  conditions  are  to-day.  We  cannot,  any  of  us,  foresee  just  what  conditions  will 
be  in  time  to  come  under  different  terminal  facilities  or  different  arrangements, 
but  certainly  there  should  be  some  improvement.  I  do  not  believe  the  carrying  lines 
to-day  have  sufficient  capacity  for  taking  care  of  and  making  prompt  delivery  of  all 
the  goods  that  they  receive.  It  depends  naturally  on  the  amount  consumed.  I  think 
a  large  terminal  in  every  borough,  accessible  to  railroads  with  facilities  for  unloading 
all  receipts  and  expeditiously  and  economically  delivering  them  to  the  receiver,  would 
improve  conditions,  providing  that  the  goods  can  be  placed  on  the  market  without 
any  delay  and  practically  all  at  the  same  time,  so  that  there  could  be  no  discrimination. 
That  would  benefit  matters.  We  do  need  more  and  better  terminal  facilities,  there 
is  no  question  about  that. 

We  sell  goods  on  the  pier.  Whatever  is  unsold  at  the  end  of  the  market  hours 
may  be  left  on  the  pier  or  removed  to  our  store.  We  are  supposed  to  remove  the 
goods  from  the  pier  within  48  hours.    Naturally  every  receiver  tries  to  dispose  of  all 


228 


his  goods  as  fast  as  he  possibly  can.  We  do  not  pay  any  rent  for  space  occupied  on 
the  pier.  We  try  to  have  a  minimum  of  five  packages  sold  to  any  one  purchaser.  In 
some  cases  there  are  single  packages  sold.  It  depends  on  the  kind  of  goods.  Take 
New  Orleans  parsley,  for  instance.  A  man  would  not  buy  more  than  one  or  two 
barrels  of  that.  It  is  a  commodity  that  is  used  seldom  and  a  buyer  would  not  take 
more  than  one  or  two  barrels  where  he  cannot  use  five.  You  have  to  sell  a  com- 
modity of  that  sort  in  one  or  two  barrel  lots.  But  generally  we  try  to  confine  our- 
selves to  five  or  more  packages.  There  are  exceptions  to  every  rule.  In  many 
instances  two  or  three  small  retailers  club  together  and  buy  larger  quantities  than 
they  can  individually  use  and  then  divide  them  up. 

Of  course  we  use  our  own  judgment  in  the  matter  of  taking  goods  to  our  store 
from  the  docks  if  we  wish  to  protect  the  goods  and  they  are  not  going  to  get  proper 
protection  on  the  docks.  Some  of  the  transportation  companies  have  frost-proof 
rooms  to  put  lettuce  and  beans  and  other  goods  in  to  protect  them  from  the  weather. 

Under  the  present  terminal  facilities  it  would  be  practically  impossible  for  the 
retailers  to  buy  in  any  number  from  the  receivers.  They  could  not  buy  from  them 
if  they  wanted  to,  because  there  is  no  room  to  go  to  the  docks  and  get  the  goods. 

It  is  difficult  to  get  at  an  accurate  estimate  of  the  difference  between  the  price 
charged  by  the  receiver  and  that  at  which  the  jobber  disposes  of  his  goods.  The 
jobber  may  pay,  we  will  say,  $2  for  his  apples.  They  cost  him  25  cents  for  cartage. 
He  may  figure  25  cents,  but  not  over  50  cents,  profit  a  package.  He  pays  25  cents 
cartage,  and,  if  he  had  to  take  them  a  considerable  distance,  he  might  have  to  pay 
more.  If  he  had  to  take  them  to  Harlem  he  would  have  to  pay  considerable  cartage 
and,  of  course,  he  would  add  to  that  his  profits.  He  has  to  figure  the  cost  of  cartage 
and  the  expense  of  his  men  in  the  purchasing  of  the  goods  and  also  take  into  considera- 
tion probable  losses.  I  have  known  them  to  obtain  no  more  than  25  cents  above  the 
price.  That  25  cents  includes  the  cartage  also,  so  that  he  really  gets  an  average  of 
19  cents. 

William  H.  Behrenberg, 

Produce  Commission  Merchant 

We  handle  all  kinds  of  farm  produce;  the  firm  has  been  in  the  business  about  45 
years.  Our  specialties  are  apples,  potatoes,  onions,  cabbage,  and  southern  produce 
of  all  kinds.  These  commodities  are  shipped  to  us  directly  by  the  producers  in  most 
instances,  especially  from  the  south.  Sometimes  there  are  intermediate  buyers  between 
us  and  the  producers. 

Wc  have  nothing  like  store  door  delivery  in  New  York.  The  railroads  deliver  the 
goods  at  the  piers  and  we  take  possession  of  them  there.  The  conditions  at  these 
terminal  delivery  points  are  very  much  congested.  The  facilities  are  not  adequate 
for  the  needs  of  the  business. 

The  terminal  points  at  which  we  get  our  produce  are:  New  York  Central  Pier 
17,  North  River;  Eastern  Steamship  Corporation  at  Pier  18;  Erie  Railroad  Pier 
No.  20;  Old  Dominion  Steamship  Company  Piers  25  and  26;  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Piers  27,  28,  and  29 ;  Clyde  Line  Pier  26 ;  Savannah  Line  Pier  35 ;  and,  of  course,  at 
all  times  the  foreign  steamship  company  piers  that  bring  in  imported  potatoes;  also 
at  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Pier  22.  In  some  seasons  of  the  year  we  get  stuff  from 
Communipaw  and  Hoboken.  We  have  to  go  over  there  with  our  trucks  and  truck  it 
back.  We  also  truck  from  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Jersey  City  yards.  The  receiv- 
ing points  range  from  the  Lehigh  Valley  Pier  No  2,  down  near  the  Battery,  up  to  the 
Clyde  Line  Pier  36  at  Houston  Street,  and  then  the  foreign  business,  lemons,  etc., 
comes  in  from  the  Chelsea  Piers  up  to  Pier  44  at  44th  Street.  On  the  west  side  our 
salesmen  will  sell  right  at  the  piers. 


229 


On  the  goods  we  receive  our  cartage  expense  would  average,  I  should  think, 
about  $300  a  week  the  year  round.  That  does  not  cover  the  cartage  that  is  spent  on 
goods  we  sell,  because  the  buyer  usually  pays  his  own  cartage.  Our  cartage  bill  must 
total  something  like  $15,000  a  year. 

The  reason  for  the  difference  between  the  wholesale  and  retail  prices  for  the 
products  here  is  that  the  methods  are  antique.  There  is  too  much  wasted  energy 
in  bringing  the  goods  from  the  receiving  station  in  New  York  to  the  consumer. 
There  are  a  great  many  delays  in  handling  the  goods.  Naturally  that  adds  to  the 
price.  There  is  also  considerable  injury  to  the  quality  of  the  goods  by  bad  handling. 
Often  buyers  buy  one  package  of  stuff  and  they  hold  it  at  a  price  until  the  goods  are 
sold.  By  reason  of  the  heavy  expense  they  are  under  they  try  to  get  a  profit  out 
of  it  regardless  of  market  conditions.  To-day,  as  low  as  onions  are,  for  example — 
they  are  so  low  we  cannot  sell  them  at  all — I  will  venture  to  say  that  the  people 
supplying  the  consumers  are  asking  as  much  as  when  onions  sold  for  $4  a  package. 

There  must  be  a  distributing  point  or  a  receiving  point  to  distribute  these  goods 
from.  I  would  strongly  advise  a  union  terminal  and  work  out  from  that  terminal  to 
connect  with  the  coiisumer— that  is,  get  from  that  terminal  to  the  supply  station 
to  reach  the  consumer.  I  think  that  one  terminal  in  Manhattan  would  be  better  than 
a  terminal  in  each  borough.  One  terminal  in  Manhattan  would  lessen  the  cost  of 
handling  the  goods.  The  more  receiving  points  you  have  the  more  men  are  necessary. 
You  have  to  have  the  same  amount  of  help  at  each  that  you  would  have  at  the  one 
union  terminal.  I  think  there  would  be  room  in  the  streets  of  lower  Manhattan  for 
the  trucks  that  would  have  to  come  to  that  one  point  to  get  the  goods. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  during  the  heavy  receiving  season  receives  as  many 
as  420  cars  in  a  day.  Their  capacity  is  only  about  310  cars.  Consequently  the  otiier 
110  cars  have  to  lie  until  the  following  morning  before  they  can  be  delivered.  If 
there  were  a  union  terminal  sufficiently  large  to  unload  all  the  perishable  products 
so  that  when  the  markets  opened  up  in  the  morning  each  buyer  and  seller  knew 
just  how  many  cars  were  to  be  unloaded  there  and  the  market  was  established 
at  that  time,  there  would  be  an  average  fair  price  realized  for  the  goods.  I  think 
that  the  consumer  would  get  his  goods  cheaper  through  the  union  terminal  than 
he  would  if  the  market  were  divided  up  into  four  or  five  terminals.  Where  the  con- 
sumer should  buy  is  at  the  small  individual  markets  whose  owners  should  come 
down  to  the  union  terminal  to  buy. 

Municipal  retail  markets  throughout  the  city,  I  do  not  think,  have  been  a  success. 
I  think  that  the  small  individual  markets  in  every  locality  bring  purchasers  and  con- 
sumers together  and  avoid  the  expense  of  a  system  of  public  markets.  I  think 
that  the  small  retail  markets  buying  directly  from  a  union  terminal  would  be  a  cheaper 
form  of  distribution.  An  equitable  distribution  could  be  worked  out  from  the  central 
market  to  a  series  of  smaller  jobbing  markets,  so  that  no  one  market  in  any  one  local- 
ity would  receive  more  than  a  fair  supply.  I  am  in  favor  of  private  management 
of  the  small  markets.  It  has  been  a  success  where  it  has  been  tried,  and  it  is  seldom 
that  one  hears  any  praise  of  the  municipal  markets. 

My  idea  is  that  the  city  should  provide  terminal  facilities  and  then  rent  out  the 
spaces  to  private  individuals  and  those  private  individuals  should  run  the  market. 
I  am  opposed  to  have  the  city  go  into  the  buying  and  selling  business.  I  do  not 
believe  in  having  any  municipal  facilities  further  than  the  receiving  station. 

My  idea  is  to  get  the  thing  to  a  central  point.  In  the  first  place,  that  establishes 
a  market  quickly.  You  do  not  then  have  five  different  lines  of  prices  that  are  estab- 
lished at  five  different  markets.  It  is  all  established  at  one  point.  As  far  as  cartage 
is  concerned  and  hauling  from  this  union  terminal  that  is  not  a  very  great  item.  If 
we  are  carting  to  Harlem  the  cartage  would  probably  be  10  or  12  cents  a  package. 
From  any  one  of  those  terminals  proposed  for  the  different  boroughs,  no  matter  how 


230 


short  the  haul,  it  would  be  a  matter  of  no  less  than  six  cents  a  package  from  any  one 
terminal  to  the  nearest  point.  Taking  it  as  a  whole,  the  cartage  rate  does  not  amount 
to  a  great  deal. 

It  is  not  a  question  of  what  you  want  done  but  a  question  of  conditions  that  exist 
and  will  persist  in  existing.  For  instance,  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  which  is  receiv- 
ing more  stuff  than  it  can  handle  at  its  piers  27,  28,  and  29.  They  receive  there  all 
their  goods  from  the  south.  They  have  also  a  pier  at  Wallabout  Market  in  Brooklyn 
where  they  will  take  the  goods  at  the  same  rate.  Yet,  notwithstanding  that,  the 
Wallabout  receivers  do  not  want  goods  shipped  over  there,  but  want  them  sent  to 
Piers  27,  28,  and  29,  for  the  simple  reason  that  they  want  those  goods  at  one  place 
where  they  can  come  because  the  market  is  established  there.  It  is  simply  a  question 
of  the  establishment  of  a  central  market.  The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  spent  $250,000 
in  providing  a  market  on  the  Jersey  side  and  told  the  New  York  trade  that  they 
would  in  future  deliver  their  goods  to  Jersey  City;  that  they  would  not  deliver  them 
at  Pier  29  in  New  York.  The  trade  said  that  they  would  not  go  to  Jersey  to  handle 
them  and  the  Pennsylvania  tried  it  out  for  part  of  a  season  and  then  abandoned  that 
$250,000  proposition  and  were  glad  to  come  back  again  to  Pier  29. 

The  point  I  want  to  bring  out  is  this :  by  reason  of  the  highly  perishable  nature 
of  the  stuff  we  handle  it  is  necessary  for  it  to  come  to  a  central  given  point  where 
the  market  is  established.  I  do  not  know  of  any  human  foresight  or  power  that 
can  establish  a  market.  It  is  just  exactly  the  same  as  establishing  a  city.  It  is  a 
matter  of  growth  and  of  a  great  number  of  circumstances  that  no  man  can  foresee. 
And,  even  though  you  build  five  different  markets  in  the  five  boroughs,  I  will 
venture  to  say  that  three  out  of  those  five  will  not  be  used  the  way  you  expect  them 
to  be  used,  and  that  the  trade  will  go  to  this  central  market  which  will  be  established 
of  its  own  accord  where  the  goods  are  received,  and  they  must  all,  and  will  all,  go 
to  that  point;  and  you  will  find  that  will  be  inadequate  just  the  same  as  it  is  now, 
by  reason  of  your  dividing  it  up  into  five  parts.  And  the  sentiment  of  the  trade 
will  be  to  go  to  that  point  and  they  will  do  their  buying  there,  and  no  power  can  prevent 
it,  and  three  out  of  five  terminals  will  hardly  be  used  at  all.  The  only  necessary 
thing  is  to  establish  that  central  terminal  in  such  a  way  that  there  will  be  no  delay 
in  getting  the  goods  into  the  hands  of  the  receivers  and  from  the  receivers  into  the 
hands  of  the  consumers.    That  is  the  whole  problem. 

For  instance,  take  the  berry  market  that  is  down  here  at  Pier  29.  We  receive 
anywhere  from  10  to  50  cars  of  berries  of  a  morning  in  the  season  and  the  buyers, 
all  of  them,  come  to  that  one  point,  and  if  there  are  only  ten  cars  the  price 
of  berries  probably  will  be  20  cents  a  quart  But,  if  we  receive  30  cars,  the  price  will 
drop  to  5  cents  a  quart;  and,  if  the  next  morning,  there  are  50  cars,  the  price  will 
go  down  to  3  cents  a  quart.  Now,  if  you  have  your  five  locations,  men  will  be  afraid 
to  get  the  cars  in  there  because  the  central  point  will  get  most  of  the  goods  and 
establish  the  market. 

If  you  have  a  central  market  you  will  have  but  one  price.  If  The  Bronx  people 
want  to  come  there  they  will  get  the  same  prices  as  anyone  else,  and  if  the  facilities  are 
sufficient  the  deliveries  will  be  practically  all  at  the  same  time.  If  all  the  goods 
could  be  unloaded  when  the  time  comes  for  the  opening  of  the  market,  the  difficulty 
would  disappear.  Then  everybody  has  the  same  chance  and  the  market  establishes 
itself  right  then  and  there.  Refrigeration  will  obviate  the  depreciation  of  the  long 
drives  to  deliver  the  goods. 

The  salesmen  go  up  to  the  dock  every  morning  and  they  know  how  many  carloads 
of  perishable  goods  were  on  the  market  the  day  before.  They  know  how  the 
market  cleaned  up.  If  the  market  cleaned  up  quickly  and  the  receipts  are  not  too 
heavy  the  following  morning,  the  buyer  knows  there  is  a  chance  that  he  can  raise 
the  market  price  a  quarter,  let  us  say.    On  the  other  hand,  if  the  market  cleaned  up 


231 


draggy  the  day  before  and  some  of  the  goods  were  carried  over  and  the  receipts 
are  very  heavy,  he  knows  that  he  must  cut  the  price  to  move  his  commodity.  So 
the  salesmen  go  right  on  the  dock  and,  without  talking  with  any  other  salesmen, 
you  can  venture  when  the  day's  work  is  wound  up  that  there  is  not  very  much 
difference  between  the  selling  price  among  the  whole  of  them  on  the  whole  day's 
market.  It  comes  natural  to  them.  If  you  are  bringing  out  the  idea  that  there  is 
a  price  fixed  between  them  before  they  start  in,  there  is  no  such  thing  in  our  busi- 
ness.   It  is  a  matter  of  getting  all  you  can  for  the  men  that  ship  to  you. 

I  am  in  favor  of  a  central  market.  We  are  bringing  goods  in  here  all  the  way 
from  3,000  to  10,000  miles  away.  The  idea  is  to  bring  it  to  the  one  point  in  New 
York  City,  and,  after  having  brought  it  there,  to  establish  a  market  price  on  it, 
and  distribute  from  that  particular  center  to  as  many  markets — whether  individual 
or  municipal,  I  don't  care — as  you  wish.  In  that  way  you  are  going  to  deliver  to 
your  consumer  cheaper  than  you  can  by  having  the  jobbers'  force  increased  and  his 
expenses  increased  five  times  greater  than  they  are  to-day.  With  the  market 
divided  we  would  have  to  have  five  times  as  much  help  as  we  have  to-day.  The 
point  I  make  is,  if  you  have  those  five  centers,  you  will  find  that  most  of  the  trade 
will  go  to  one  distributing  point  where  the  market  is  already  established. 

Mr.  Harry  Dowie, 

Produce  Commission  Merchant 

Our  firm  sells  butter,  eggs,  and  poultry,  and  has  been  in  the  business  43  years. 
The  value  of  poultry,  butter,  and  eggs  received  in  New  York  for  annual  con- 
sumption runs  into  the  millions.  These  commodities  are  unloaded  in  New  York 
at  St.  John's  Park  by  the  New  York  Central,  Pennsylvania  Dock,  Erie,  Dela- 
ware &  Lackawanna,  Lehigh  Valley  terminals,  and  by  the  various  boats — Sound  boats 
and  Albany  boats.    The  live  chicken  market  is  at  West  Washington  Market. 

New  York  is  a  very  large  distributing  place.  A  great  deal  of  these  goods  are 
shipped  direct  from  the  dock  to  wherever  they  may  be  going — to  many  places  in  the 
east  or  abroad,  to  Panama,  Porto  Rico,  Bermuda,  and  to  many  southern  points.  The 
distributing  is  done  by  the  receivers  generally.  There  are  very  few  commission  men 
that  are  not  also  wholesalers  and  jobbers.    They  trade  in  three  capacities. 

The  general  expense  of  a  cdmmission  man  on  an  average  commission  man's 
business  largely  depends  on  the  volume  of  business  that  he  transacts.  The  larger 
the  volume  of  business  the  less  his  proportionate  expense.  The  general  expenses  of 
a  commission  man  are  risks  of  collecting  his  debts,  in  the  first  place,  and  his 
losses  on  advancements  made,  and  that  will  run  from  two  to  three  per  cent.  The 
costs  of  handling  are,  in  the  first  place,  rent,  in  the  next,  help ;  in  the  next,  if  you 
do  a  business  of  $2,000,000  a  year,  you  have  to  have  a  capital  of  $300,000  to  $400,- 
000.  Then  there  is  the  interest  on  the  money.  There  is  the  natural  shrinkage  which 
you  can't  save.  This  is  caused  by  various  reasons.  You  may  in  good  faith  have 
sold  goods  and  they  may  not  have  proved  exactly  as  you  expected  they  would  be, 
and  you  have  to  make  a  calculation  on  that.  No  man  can  do  any  amount  of  business 
but  what  there  is  a  shrinkage  and  a  loss  in  his  collections.  Commission  men  may 
advance  money  on  consignments  and  many  times  they  do  not  collect  the  shortage. 
We  are  not  only  receivers,  but  bankers  as  well.  We  advance  on  the  bills  of  lading, 
and  we  are  bankers  for  the  men  we  sell  to. 

I  think  the  present  handling  facilities  in  New  York  are  sufficient  if  the  men 
engaged  in  business  will  do  business  properly.  Some  have  too  much  business  appe- 
tite— they  grasp  more  than  they  can  consume.  Sometimes  goods  are  held  on  the 
piers  because  they  arrive  before  the  bill  of  lading  comes,  and  a  man  cannot  get  his 


232 


goods  until  he  has  his  bill  of  lading.  Sometimes  men  have  an  idea  that  the  market 
is  going  to  be  better  to-morrow,  and  they  will  let  the  goods  lie  on  the  piers.  Some- 
times the  men  have  not  room  enough  to  do  the  business  that  they  ought  to  do,  and 
the  goods  lie.  Sometimes  the  goods  are  not  up  to  the  mark  and  there  is  a  dispute 
between  the  receiver  and  the  shipper  and  the  goods  lie  until  that  dispute  is  settled. 
Sometimes  the  dispute  is  not  settled  for  so  long  a  time  that  the  goods  are  put  in 
storage  by  the  railroad  company.  All  that  costs  money.  The  commission  man  who 
pays  the  draft  is  the  one  that  suffers;  the  shipper,  as  a  rule,  gets  all  the  goods  are 
worth  before  he  ships  them. 

There  are  very  few  delays  owing  to  congested  traffic  since  we  have  had  the  new 
police  regulations.  We  used  to  have  many  hours'  delay,  but  not  lately.  There  is 
very  little  blocking  on  the  piers.  I  believe  we  have  the  largest  business  in  our  line 
in  the  City  of  New  York  and  we  have  no  delays  whatever,  and,  consequently,  no 
damage  to  goods  on  this  account. 

Our  rush  season  is  in  the  holiday  times — Thanksgiving,  Christmas,  and  New  Year's. 
That  is  the  poultry  season  rush.  At  that  time  the  railroad  companies,  instead  of 
opening  up  at  seven  o'clock  for  us,  open  up  at  one  or  two  o'clock  at  night  and  that 
gives  us  extra  time,  and  at  that  time  the  streets  are  not  congested  in  any  way.  There 
are  times  when  the  Hudson  River  Road  instead  of  running  the  cars  into  St.  John's 
Park  will  run  them  on  the  street  and  let  you  unload  on  the  street  until  2  o'clock. 
There  is  no  congestion  there.  In  the  vegetable  business  I  have  seen  a  good  deal  of 
congestion  along  West  Street  in  the  early  hours  of  the  morning. 

The  amount  of  receipts  that  go  into  the  warehouses  in  the  City  of  New  York 
of  food  products  outside  of  eggs  is  very  nominal  indeed.  The  other  food*  products 
that  would  go  into  the  freezers  in  the  City  of  New  York  in  any  quantities  would  be 
poultrj-.  Ninety-seven  per  cent,  of  the  poultry  in  the  United  States  is  frozen  outside 
of  the  City  of  New  York.  A  large  part  of  the  eggs  that  New  York  takes  are  stored 
in  Jersey  City.  This  is  for  two  reasons :  in  the  first  place,  Jersey  City  freezers  are 
all  on  railroad  terminals.  The  eggs  that  are  destined  for  New  York  City  can  be 
shipped  right  straight  to  those  terminals.  They  are  unloaded  very  easily  without 
any  breakage.  They  are  stored  at  a  much  less  expense  than  they  can  be  stored 
in  the  City  of  New  York  because  the  ground  that  these  buildings  cover  is  not  so 
expensive.  The  money  invested  in  the  buildings  is  not  near  as  much  as  in  New 
York.  Insurance  rates  are  much  cheaper.  The  water  that  they  have  is  everlasting; 
the  water  here  is  not.  The  refrigerators  here  have  to  continually  bore  deeper  and 
deeper  to  get  water  and  that  is  one  of  the  most  essential  things.  They  use  artesian 
wells  here;  there  they  draw  it  all  from  the  river.  A  very  large  part  of  the  produce 
taken  into  cold  storage  warehouses  in  New  Jersey  comes  into  New  York. 

There  are  several  purposes  of  refrigerating  produce,  but  it  all  sums  up  in  this — 
it  is  an  absolute  necessity  to  provide  food  at  a  reasonable  price  for  the  people  to 
exist.  It  was  not  necessary  45  years  ago;  45  years  ago  in  Washington  Market  the 
matter  of  dressed  poultry,  for  instance,  would  be  cared  for  by  the  old-fashioned 
methods.  In  that  time  dressed  poultry  was  supplied  to  New  York  by  the  women 
coming  from  Staten  Island  and  New  Jersey  and  they  would  have  their  dressed 
poultry  in  baskets  distributed  on  the  sidewalks.  To-day  we  get  hundreds  and  hun- 
dreds of  carloads  of  dressed  poultry  from  Texas,  the  Indian  Territory,  Kansas, 
Missouri,  the  Dakotas.  We  even  get  poultry  from  China  and  from  Russia.  Those 
supplies  are  absolutely  necessary  to  us.  What  would  we,  as  a  people,  do  without 
refrigeration  if  we  could  not  get  those  supplies? 

The  cold  storage  charges  vary  a  trifle.  The  man  who  can  store  several  million 
pounds,  or  so  many  thousand  cases  of  eggs,  may  get  a  special  rate  which  is  a  trifle 
lower  than  the  average  rate.  But  the  highest  rate  charged  in  the  cold  storage  houses 
is  less  than  you  or  I  can  hold  those  eggs  in  our  own  warehouse  for.   Where  you 


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store  solid  carloads  you  get  a  little  less  rate  of  storage.  It  is  less  work  and  less 
trouble  to  handle  400  packages  straight  from  one  man  than  it  would  be  to  handle 
50  packages  from  50  men. 

Refrigeration  adds  to  the  cost  of  produce  from  one-sixth  to  one-eighth  of  one 
per  cent,  per  month.  That  would  be  one  per  cent,  for  six  months.  That  is  the 
average  charge.  Eggs  are  carried  by  the  season — that  is,  from  April  to  the  1st  of 
January.  They  are  carried  for  40  cents  a  case,  30  dozen  eggs  to  the  case.  That 
is  a  little  over  a  cent  a  dozen. 

The  great  part  of  the  produce  that  comes  to  New  York  is  produced  outside  of 
the  State  of  New  York.  What  the  State  of  New  York  produces  would  hardly 
feed  the  Astor  House  one  day.  The  goods  are  shipped  in  by  the  "shippers" — men 
who  are  located  at  points  where  several  railroads  converge,  if  possible.  They  put 
up  their  plants  there.  Nowadays  those  are  put  up  in  accordance  with  the  very  latest 
sanitary  regulations.  They  have  their  autos,  trucks  or  wagons,  and  they  have  their 
men  and  their  routes,  and  the  men  go  around  to  the  farmers — sometimes  around  to 
the  merchants,  who,  in  turn,  deal  directly  with  the  farmers — and  they  gather  the 
goods  and  bring  them  to  the  central  point,  where  the  plant  is  located. 

If  it  is  live  poultry  the  poultry  is  dressed  at  that  point.  After  it  is  dressed  it 
is  properly  cooled  and  properly  packed.  If  it  is  eggs  the  eggs  are  candled  and  the 
"cracks"  and  the  "dirties"  and  the  "smalls"  are  thrown  out  and  then  they  are  placed 
in  cases.  If  it  is  warm  weather  the  eggs  are  placed  in  a  cooler.  When  they  have  the 
car  ready,  which  is  from  one  to  three  days,  it  is  brought  up  to  the  house  and  the 
car  is  thoroughly  iced  and  salted  so  it  is  positively  cool  and  the  poultry  and  the  eggs 
are  placed  in  it.  When  the  car  is  loaded  this  man  gets  his  bill  of  lading — so  many 
cases  of  eggs,  so  many  pounds  of  poultry,  so  many  pounds  of  butter — and  he  takes 
his  bill  of  lading  to  the  bank  and  he  gets  his  money  on  his  draft  on  his  consignee,  and 
we  are  the  consignee.  We  pay  the  draft  from  three  to  five  days  before  we  see  the 
goods.  Our  percentage  of  losses,  however,  is  very  small.  We  advise  the  shippers  as 
to  how  much  they  can  draw  on  the  bills  of  lading,  and  the  longer  we  are  in  business 
the  more  conservative  we  become.  The  particular  percentage  of  advances  varies,  but 
we  generally  anticipate,  providing  we  have  to  pay  the  freight,  about  70  per  cent. 
There  are  some  shippers  in  the  country  on  whom  we  do  not  place  any  limit  because 
we  have  confidence  in  them.  We  meet  their  consignments  to  the  full  amount.  There 
is  a  large  business  done  in  the  City  of  New  York  by  men  here  who  own,  or  own  part 
of  these  large  packing  houses  in  the  West,  so  they  are  the  men  that  produce  the 
goods  themselves  very  largely.  There  are  a  great  many  concerns  here  in  New  York 
who  have  no  charge  for  cartage  because  their  buildings  are  on  the  railroads.  We 
have  to  meet  the  prices  set  by  these  competitors.  Unless  we  did  that,  we  could  not 
continue  in  business.  Our  expenses  to-day,  compared  with  30  years  ago,  are  over  100 
per  cent,  more,  and  our  profits  are  less.  We  have  to  make  up  our  profits  by  the 
volume  of  business  we  do.    The  unit  of  profit  is  very  small. 

Our  rate  of  commission  is  5  per  cent.,  but  we  do  not  earn  that  much.  We  have 
no  arrangement  with  any  shipper  to  sell  any  goods  less  than  5  per  cent.,  yet  there  are 
very  many  times  when  we  do  not  make  5  per  cent.  The  market  may  be  good  to-day 
and  low  to-morrow.  If  we  remit  to  the  shipper  on  the  price  prevailing  to-day,  the 
rate  might  be  6  per  cent,  on  the  first  day,  but  on  the  second  day  it  might  be  4  or  less, 
so  we  would  perhaps  not  get  on  an  average  4  per  cent,  for  our  commission.  I  think 
it  is  true  that  a  careful  business  man's  losses  would  not  be  considered  heavy  at  of 
1  per  cent,  a  year.   I  think  that  would  be  a  very  careful  business. 

I  had  the  profit  of  the  intermediate  shipper  figured  out  by  one  of  the  shrewdest 
business  men  in  the  West,  who  owns  his  own  plants  and  has  been  in  business  thirty 
years.    I  had  him  figure  up  his  profits  for  five  years  and  I  liad  the  commission  man 


234 


in  New  York  figure  up  his  profits  for  five  years,  and  the  entire  net  profits  of  both 
combined  were  not  5  per  cent. 

I  do  not  believe  that  lack  of  confidence  between  the  shipper  and  the  receiver  has 
a  tendency  to  increase  the  cost  of  marketing  methods.  I  think  the  main  reason  for 
this  cost  is  graft — graft  by  the  chefs  who  want  5  to  10  per  cent. ;  graft  by  the  agent 
who  has  charge  of  the  house  where  the  lady  of  the  household  never  sees  the  kitchen 
and  depends  upon  the  dealer  or  the  servants  to  buy  the  goods,  and  the  servant  gets 
from  5  to  10  per  cent.,  and  because  she  does  get  a  percentage  or  because  the  other 
man  gets  a  percentage  they  dump  the  goods  into  the  ash  barrel  and  get  more.  I  am 
speaking  of  what  I  know  is  true. 

The  people  themselves  cause  a  great  deal  of  the  high  prices.  I  remember  when 
a  man  might  have  a  little  butcher  shop  that  cost  maybe  $400  or  $500  to  fix  up,  and 
when  he  might  have  an  old  horse  and  cart  and  people  were  perfectly  satisfied  to  have 
that  come  in  front  of  their  houses  as  long  as  the  meat  was  all  right.  Now,  you  have 
to  have  thousands  of  dollars  invested  in  a  beautiful  butcher  shop,  and  they  cannot 
drive  an  old  wagon  in  front  of  people's  houses.  Then,  again,  the  methods  of  shopping 
have  changed.  A  woman  will  telephone  to  her  butcher  for  steak  and  then  a  little 
while  after  will  find  that  she  has  forgotten  the  onions,  and  she  will  telephone  again. 
That  all  costs  money.  I  know  it  to  be  a  fact  that  it  costs  some  of  these  butchers  30 
per  cent,  to  deliver  their  goods  when  it  should  not  cost  15,  and  that  is  because  of  the 
method  of  purchasing  adopted  by  the  women  themselves.  I  think  it  would  be  an 
advantage  to  the  trade  if  they  allowed  an  extra  percentage  to  the  women  who  carried 
home  their  own  purchases  if  you  could  get  enough  sensible  women  to  accept  it.  But 
they  are  too  proud  to  carry  their  own  purchases  home,  and  it  is  just  the  same  with 
the  men. 

HENRY  DUNKAK, 

Produce  Commission  Merchant 

We  deal  in  butter  and  eggs  and  have  been  in  the  business  thirty  years.  We  do  a 
business  of  about  $3,000,000  per  annum.  We  secure  eggs  from  the  Western  produce 
sections,  bring  them  in  and  sell  them,  sending  market  agents  out  two  or  three  times 
a  year  to  make  contracts.  We  buy  from  the  producers,  not  from  retail  stores  in  the 
country  villages,  and  also  from  collectors.  We  pay  for  them  on  sight  drafts,  bills  of 
lading  attached,  and  the  goods  are  delivered  to  New  York  City.  The  usual  method 
of  receiving  is  that  the  goods  are  floated  over  and  trucked  out  by  hand  trucks  and 
put  on  the  dock  or  pier.  Our  trucks  go  in  and  load  up  and  haul  them  up  to  the 
store,  where  we  have  refrigeration,  into  which  they  are  put  as  quickly  as  possible. 
There  are  undoubtedly  many  delays  in  carting  shipments,  due  to  the  heavy  receipts. 
At  all  piers  the  outgoing  and  incoming  freight  is  handled  at  the  same  place  and  on 
the  same  days.  We  try  to  get  the  shipments  off  the  piers  as  quickly  as  possible. 
Butter  will  stay  on  the  piers  from  five  to  eight  hours;  eggs,  from  one  to  two  or  three 
days.  They  are  not  refrigerated  during  that  time,  but  the  piers  are  covered.  The 
goods,  while  in  transit,  are  refrigerated  in  the  cars.  This  method  of  handling  is, 
of  course,  detrimental. 

Our  store  is  within  one-half  to  two-thirds  of  a  mile  of  all  the  piers,  and  all  our 
trucks  formerly,  twelve  years  ago,  would  make  eight  or  nine  trips  a  day.  They  can 
now  make  but  four  and  sometimes  five,  when  the  going  is  good,  owing  entirely  to 
congested  conditions  at  the  piers.  The  double  trucks  cost  us,  on  an  average,  about 
$10  a  day. 

The  effect  of  these  delays  on  the  butter  and  eggs  is  that  they  are  detrimental  to 
the  quality  and  consequently  detrimental  to  the  value,  as  the  bulk  of  the  product  ar- 
rives during  hot  weather,  during  which  time  they  will  become  affected  quickly  when 


235 


left  on  the  dock.  When  the  streets  are  congested  the  delay  there  is  also  detrimental. 
Butter,  on  a  truck  in  a  temperature  of  90  degrees  in  the  sun,  is  more  or  less  affected 
in  quality  before  it  can  be  placed  in  a  properly  protected  place.  I  think  the  loss  of 
butter  and  eggs  in  the  City  of  New  York  from  these  causes  is  at  least  1  per  cent. 
That  is  very  conservative.  I  think  it  is  more  than  that.  The  butter  trade  of  New 
York  will  be  at  least  $60,000,000  a  year.   The  egg  trade  would  be  as  much  again. 

The  method  of  handling  eggs,  an  especially  fragile  article,  is  also  largely  a  cause 
of  loss.  Every  time  they  are  handled  some  eggs  are  broken,  and  whenever  you  get 
a  broken  egg  in  a  case  it  also  deteriorates  all  the  eggs  in  the  case  packed  with  it.  I 
think  it  would  be  a  great  advantage  to  the  trade  if  there  were  terminal  facilities  so 
the  refrigerated  cars  could  go  right  into  chilled  rooms  and  be  unloaded  there.  I 
think  that  is  the  proper  way  to  do  it.  There  is  no  sense  in  handling  eggs  coming 
into  New  York  and  going  out  of  New  York  eight  times.  They  are  taken  out  of  the 
cars  and  dumped  on  the  pier;  they  are  taken  from  the  pier  to  the  truck  and  from  the 
truck  into  the  store.  There  they  are  sold  and  put  back  again  on  the  trucks  and 
there  taken  down  and  unloaded  on  the  pier,  and  from  the  pier  they  are  loaded  back 
into  the  cars.   Then,  of  course,  they  have  to  be  rehandled  at  the  other  end. 

I  ascribe  the  great  loss  in  value  and  in  quantity  to  lack  of  proper  terminal  facili- 
ties. There  certainly  should  be  some  method  devised  whereby  it  could  be  obviated. 
It  would  all  result  to  the  advantage  of  the  consumer  in  the  long  run.  I  think  we 
could  overcome  the  loss  if  we  had  proper  terminal  facilities  whereby  the  cars  could 
come  right  into  the  market  and  be  unloaded  directly.  Wherever  there  is  a  terminal 
market  you  will  find  the  merchants  gather  about  it. 

The  volume  of  butter  riding  into  this  market  will  average  from  50,000  to  60,000 
tubs  a  week.  Of  course,  at  the  time  of  maximum  production,  which  is  during  the 
summer  months,  they  run  from  70,000  to  80,000  tubs  a  week,  while  in  the  winter 
months  it  will  run  down  to  35,000  tubs  a  week.  Eggs  will  average  through  the  year 
from  100  to  150  thousand  cases  per  week.  During  the  time  of  maximum  production, 
which  is  in  April  and  May,  the  receipts  run  up  to  about  200,000  cases  a  week. 

We  get  our  butter  right  from  the  creameries,  the  producers;  we  get  eggs  from  the 
collectors.  Most  of  the  butter  is  produced  by  cooperative  creameries.  They  are 
usually  combinations  of  a  number  of  farmers  and  are  cooperative  companies.  They 
elect  a  secretary  and  a  treasurer  and  we  make  a  contract  with  him.  In  cases  where 
there  is  an  egg  territory  there  are  men  in  that  business  buying  the  eggs  from  the 
individual  farmers,  and  we  buy  from  the  collectors. 

GEORGE  DRESSLER, 

Wholesale  Commission  Dealer,  Wallabout  Market 

1  have  been  in  the  business  for  thirty-four  years  and  do  a  business  of  about 
$500,000.  I  am  familiar  with  business  conditions  in  and  around  Wallabout  Market. 
Five  or  six  years  ago,  when  I  was  president  of  the  Wallabout  Merchants'  Associa- 
tion, we  made  considerable  effort  to  get  the  city  to  establish  a  union  terminal  on  a 
plot  of  ground  acres  in  extent.  We  went  to  see  all  the  different  railroads  to 
find  out  whether  they  would  be  satisfied  to  cooperate  with  one  another  to  bring  cars 
in  there  and  bring  stuff  to  the  market.  Almost  every  representative  of  railroads  we 
saw  was  anxious  to  cooperate  in  a  proposition  of  that  kind.  We  took  the  matter  to 
the  Comptroller,  who  has  jurisdiction  over  all  markets,  and  he  was  satisfied  if  a 
proposition  of  that  kind  could  be  arranged.  We  laid  the  matter  before  the  Corpora- 
tion Counsel,  and  he,  in  his  wisdom,  advised  the  Comptroller  that  a  railroad  terminal 
was  not  "for  market  purposes."  Under  the  conditions  under  which  the  land  was 
conveyed  to  the  city  by  the  United  States  Government  in  1895,  this  plot  of  ground 


236 


was  to  be  used  only  for  market  purposes  or  business  pertaining  thereto.  As  the  Cor- 
poration Counsel  ruled  that  a  railroad  terminal  would  not  be  for  market  purposes,  we 
could  not  have  the  terminal. 

When  the  City  bought  this  property  from  the  United  States  Government,  they  in- 
serted a  clause  in  the  deed  that  the  City  should  dredge  a  canal  to  within  500  feet  of 
Flushing  Avenue  and  put  in  piers  and  slips  and  create  a  basin  there.  That  has  been 
done.  The  basin  is  about  400  feet  wide  and  there  are  about  five  piers  in  the  basin, 
leaving  150  feet  between  the  head  of  the  pier  and  the  Clinton  Avenue  extension.  This 
fairway  of  150  feet  is  not  sufficient  for  the  traffic  I  have  had  a  great  many  com- 
munications about  it,  of  which  the  following  is  a  good  example,  to  show  the  condi- 
tions that  prevail: 

Mr.  George  Dressier,  President, 

Wallabout  Market  Merchants'  Association, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Dear  Sir:    On  December  11,  1912,  the  Schooner   had  to  tie  up  out- 

side at  head  of  Clinton  Avenue  Pier,  account  of  the  whole  Clinton  Avenue  exten- 
sion being  covered  with  sand,  gravel,  broken  stone,  and  an  excavation  dump  and 
runway,  also  pile  of  wood,  all  of  which  was  there  without  any  permission  from 
the  Highway  Department,  and  if  said  permit  was  granted  by  anyone  connected 
with  the  Dock  Department,  they  have  certainly  exceeded  their  authority. 

Through  the  efforts  of  the  Dock  Master  in  my  behalf,  the  pile  of  wood  was 
removed  so  as  to  allow  me  to  unload  the  cargo  of  3,657  sacks  of  potatoes. 

On  December  19,  1912,  the  Schooner  ,  with  a  cargo  of  4,416  sacks  and 

barrels  of  potatoes,  remained  a  whole  day  outside  of  other  boats  at  Clinton  Ave- 
nue Pier  for  the  same  reason,  at  an  expense  of  $20  per  day. 

Again,  on  December  26,  1912,  the  Schooner  ,  with  2,287  sacks  of  pota- 
toes on  board,  had  to  remain  without  a  berth  at  the  same  pier  for  two  days,  at 
an  expense  of  $10  a  day. 

Will  be  pleased  to  have  you  take  this  matter  up  and  see  if  these  annoyances 
cannot  be  eliminated. 


Those  piers  were  built  by  the  city  for  market  purposes  and  for  no  other  purposes. 
I  made  an  application  a  considerable  time  ago  to  the  Dock  Master  to  get  the  privilege 
to  have  fruit  and  vegetables  brought  at  certain  times  of  the  year.  The  commissioner 
turned  it  down  and  would  not  grant  the  privilege,  as  under  the  restrictions  placed 
on  it  by  the  United  States  Government,  this  pier  cannot  be  leased  and  is  for  the  use 
of  transients. 

The  market  is  peculiarly  controlled.  The  Dock  Department  has  control  of  the 
water  front,  the  Comptroller  has  control  of  the  market  proper,  and  the  Bureau  of 
Public  Buildings  and  Offices,  the  Borough  President,  has  charge  of  the  rest  of  the 
market.  After  considerable  negotiations  I  got  a  lease  to  put  up  a  row  of  buildings 
on  the  water  front  to  be  used  for  general  purposes.  Anybody  in  the  market  can  come 
in  there.  I  have  the  right  to  collect  wharfage  on  boats  coming  in  there,  but  for  the 
three  years  that  I  have  had  the  lease,  I  have  not  collected  one  penny  of  wharfage.  I 
believe  that  the  upbuilding  of  the  market  requires  that  the  place  should  be  there  and 
I  work  accordingly. 

I  believe  Wallabout  is  the  largest  market  in  the  United  States.  It  covers  about 
36  acres.  Seven-eighths  of  the  market  is  built  on  by  two-story  brick  buildings.  We 
receive  goods  in  the  market  on  all  the  trunk  lines — the  New  York  Central,  the  West 
Shore,  the  Lehigh  Valley,  the  Erie,  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio,  the  D.  L.  &  W.,  and 
the  Pennsylvania.  They  have  car  float  connections.  Besides  that  we  have  water 
front  connections  with  a  basin  alongside  the  car  float  terminal.    There  is  a  square  in 


237 


the  middle  of  the  market  for  the  market  gardeners.  They  sell  to  the  wholesaler  by 
private  sale.  There  is  no  auction  selling  in  the  market.  Most  of  the  stuff  coming  in 
on  the  car  float  connections  is  consigned  to  individual  concerns  doing  business  in  the 
market.   They  sell  to  wholesalers,  jobbers,  and  retailers. 

I  would  recommend  an  enlargement  of  the  market  facilities  by  getting  a  lease  of 
200  or  250  feet  along  the  Clinton  Avenue  extension.  That  would  enable  us  to  bring 
in  car  floats  head  on.  A  car  float  is  24  feet  wide.  We  can  bring  in  12  cars  on  a 
float.  The  basin  is  about  400  feet  long,  and  if  we  had  space  along  the  Clinton  Avenue 
extension  we  could  bring  in  ten  times  as  many  cars  as  can  come  now.  We  can  only 
get  in  12  cars  a  day  now.  They  are  kept  on  the  float  and  handled  on  the  float.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  it  would  be  an  improvement  to  the  market  if  we  could  run  them  off 
the  floats  directly  into  the  market,  but  the  number  that  we  could  handle  would  be 
limited  as  the  switching  space  is  not  large.  You  have  to  have  room  for  dead  cars 
after  they  are  unloaded.  There  is  a  space  between  the  buildings  and  the  water  front 
of  about  10  feet.  Goods  could  be  unloaded  from  the  cars  on  hand-trucks  and  taken 
to  either  side  of  the  market.  In  that  way  we  could  probably  handle  from  120  to  130 
carloads  a  day  there.   As  it  is  now  they  can  only  run  in  on  one  float  sidewise. 

Such  an  arrangement  would  serve  the  district  west  of  Washington  Avenue  and 
be  a  great  accommodation  to  the  district  east.  The  larger  part  of  the  trucking  is 
now  east  of  Washington  Avenue.  It  would  be  difficult  to  bring  cars  across  Washing- 
ton Avenue  now,  because  the  streets  are  not  wide  enough.  We  would  have  to  tear 
down  some  buildings.  Some  of  the  streets  are  only  35  feet  wide,  so  that  a  horse  and 
truck  backed  in  on  each  side  of  the  street  causes  congestion  of  traffic.  To  bring  cars 
to  the  center  of  the  square  it  would  be  necessary  to  destroy  a  few  of  the  buildings. 
The  blocks  of  buildings  vary  from  200  to  250  feet  in  length  and  from  90  to  100  feet 
in  depth.  No  doubt  it  would  be  of  great  benefit  to  the  market  if  these  cars  were  run 
off  the  floats  across  Fleeman  Avenue,  across  Washington  Avenue,  and  through  the 
row  of  buildings  between  Washington  Avenue  and  West  Avenue  to  the  center  of  the 
market.  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  a  very  costly  proceeding.  The  buildings  are  two- 
story  brick,  and  in  themselves  do  not  cost  as  much  as  the  improvements  inside.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  it  would  pay  the  whole  market  to  have  these  few  destroyed  for  this 
purpose. 

The  restrictions  imposed  by  the  United  States  Government  prohibit  anything  being 
placed  on  the  Clinton  Avenue  extension.  The  purpose  was  to  keep  the  space  vacant 
so  that  the  Federal  authorities  could  use  it  at  any  time.  The  City  is  bound  to  keep 
the  space  open,  but,  instead  of  its  being  kept  open,  there  is  a  dump  there  and  a  run- 
way, and  at  times  seven-eighths  of  the  Qinton  Avenue  extension  is  littered  with 
stone,  gravel,  and  sand. 

The  streets  of  the  market  are  paved  with  cobblestones.  The  pavement  is  old  and 
has  been  there  for  years.  The  buildings  are  built  by  individuals  who  lease  the 
ground.  The  only  public  building  is  for  the  janitor,  and  this  also  has  a  meeting  room 
for  the  Market  Association.  There  is  no  place  for  auction  sales  or  anything  of  the 
sort. 

RETAILING 

JOHN  STEENECK, 

Retail  Grocer,  Manhattan 

I  have  been  in  the  grocery  business  twenty-three  years.  In  that  time  I  have  dealt  in 
perishable  products  as  well  as  dry  groceries.  Up  to  two  years  ago  60  per  cent,  of 
my  sales  were  in  perishable  goods ;  now,  the  percentage  is  about  40.  My  business  last 
year  was  over  $35,000.    The  quantity  of  perishable  goods  that  I  handle  has  fallen  off 


238 


because  I  am  getting  too  old  and  it  was  too  strenuous  for  me  to  handle  it  in  the 
proper  way.  In  order  to  carry  it  on  successfully  I  would  have  to  attend  the  receivers' 
sales  and  the  farmers'  market.  The  receivers  are  generally  between  Dey  and  Harri- 
son Streets,  between  West  and  Greenwich  Streets.  I  have  to  go  to  different  receivers 
for  different  lines  of  goods,  and  to  the  farmers'  market  for  still  other  lines.  I  have 
to  go  to  all  these  different  places  at  a  most  inconvenient  time — from  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning  to  half-past  seven,  and  have  to  visit  in  the  neighborhood  of  about  six 
or  seven  different  receivers,  and  sometimes  as  many  as  twenty  in  order  to  get  the 
goods  I  need.  The  farmers'  market,  Gansevoort  Market,  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
to  two  miles  from  where  the  receivers  are  located. 

I  could  go  to  a  central  buyer  and  get  the  various  things  I  require,  but  the  profits 
would  be  curtailed — I  could  not  buy  at  the  same  price.  I  would  have  to  buy  from 
persons  who  had  already  collected  their  goods  from  the  receivers  and  from  the  farm- 
ers, and  who,  therefore,  would  add  a  profit  that  would  have  to  be  charged  to  me. 
I  would  have  to  pay  them  a  certain  amount  for  buying  for  me. 

I  think  the  prices  of  perishable  goods  have  not  increased.  The  only  difference 
to-day  is  that  probably  people  at  the  present  day  are  higher  livers  and  demand  a 
better  class  of  goods  than  heretofore.  What  people  used  to  be  satisfied  with  twenty 
years  ago  they  would  throw  aside  now.  What  we  formerly  used  to  consider  luxuries 
have  now  become  necessities.  I  think  during  the  past  fifteen  years  that  prices  have 
risen  to  a  certain  extent  because  of  the  increased  cost  in  labor.  In  former  times  the 
farmer  used  to  hire  these  men  for  $10  and  $15  a  month,  but  now  he  pays  them  $25  a 
month  and  board — that  is,  the  truck  gardeners.  The  price  of  the  product  had  to 
rise  because  of  the  increased  cost  of  the  labor  that  goes  into  it. 

If  we  could  get  goods  at  first  hand  at  one  place  it  would  be  much  easier  and 
much  cheaper,  and  a  great  deal  of  time  would  be  saved.  Now,  there  is  an  immense 
amount  of  time  lost  which,  of  course,  costs  money.  I  could  afford  to  stay  in  the 
business  then  because  it  would  not  be  so  strenuous.  The  prices  would  be  about  the 
same.  If  we  could  get  the  goods  more  easily  it  would  have  a  tendency  to  keep  the 
young  men  of  the  city  in  the  grocery  business  instead,  as  at  the  present  time,  of  their 
being  forced  to  go  into  some  other  kind  of  work.  They  absolutely  refuse  to  do  that 
work  now,  because  of  the  labor.  I  do  not  think  it  would  induce  the  farmers  to  send 
more  goods  in,  because  they  send  all  their  goods  in  now.  The  grocery  business  in 
New  York  is  conducted  as  well  as  it  might  be,  except  that  they  have  not  the  proper 
market  facilities  to  get  the  products  in  time  without  great  effort. 

They  ought  to  have  a  larger  farmers'  market  where  the  wagons  would  not  be  so 
congested,  and  they  ought  to  have  a  large  terminal  where  the  commission  merchants 
would  be  all  in  one  place  and  the  products  would  be  sent,  which  would  enable  the 
retailer  to  get  his  products  at  first  cost,  that  is,  from  the  commission  dealer  himself. 
One  such  market  would  not  do  for  the  entire  City;  each  borough  should  have  one. 
It  would  most  undoubtedly  save  hauling.  It  is  my  opinion  that  the  retail  grocery 
business  would  be  benefited  if  we  had  these  different  terminal  markets. 

I  am  not  in  favor  of  municipal  retail  markets.  It  is  impossible  to  get  them  to 
be  run  economically  and  as  well  as  private  markets  are  now  run  by  individuals.  I 
would  rather  have  such  markets  than  the  peddlers  on  the  streets,  but  I  do  not  think 
the  markets  would  last  very  long.  I  would  not  take  a  stall  in  a  municipal  retail  mar- 
ket as  a  gift,  because  it  would  not  be  a  success.  I  would  not  have  any  customers. 
Customers  will  not  go  out  of  their  way  to  buy  goods. 

If  I  were  to  deal  in  perishable  goods  now,  I  would  have  to  go  to  work  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning  and  keep  my  store  open  until  eight  or  nine  at  night.  If  I 
could  get  the  goods  directly  at  one  market  I  would  not  need  to  do  a  day's  labor  before 
other  people  get  up  in  the  morning.  It  would  be  an  inducement  for  me  to  stay  in 
the  retail  business  for  the  sale  of  perishable  goods. 


239 


If  the  wholesale  terminal  markets  were  established  under  favorable  conditions,  I 
and  other  dealers  could  sell  more  of  this  line  of  goods  than  we  do  now.  That  would 
increase  the  market  for  the  farmers,  and  that  in  turn  would  induce  the  farmers  to 
produce  and  send  in  more  goods,  which  would  have  a  tendency  to  lower  prices.  At 
the  same  time  the  farmer  would  get  better  returns. 

I  buy  by  the  package — five,  ten,  or  twenty-five  at  a  time.  All  grocery  men  cannot 
do  it:  they  are  not  strong  enough.  I,  of  course,  bought  at  the  dock.  If  facilities  to 
buy  directly  at  the  dock  in  one,  two,  or  three  packages  were  provided,  it  would  re- 
duce the  cost  to  grocers  if  they  had  the  dock  large  enough.  It  should  be  near  the 
farmers'  market,  too.  The  whole  market  ought  to  be  at  the  same  place.  Of-  course, 
during  certain  times  of  the  year,  it  does  not  matter  so  much.  Grocery  men  come 
down  twice  a  week  to  the  commission  dealers  in  the  winter  time.  Then  we  do  not 
need  a  market  every  day.  And,  the  other  day,  they  go  to  the  Harlem  Market  and 
buy  of  the  farmers  there.    But  in  the  summer  time  we  cannot  do  that. 

These  goods  come  to  the  market  in  large  lots  and  are  bought  up  by  the  whole- 
salers and  by  them  regraded.  In  order  to  have  the  goods  properly  graded  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  trade,  there  has  to  be  a  middleman  to  take  care  of  them,  and  it 
takes  time  and  money.    You  never  can  get  rid  of  the  middleman. 

I  am  positive  that  the  perishable  goods  are  sold  on  a  more  scientific  basis  to-day 
than  ever  sold  heretofore.  There  is  keener  and  closer  competition  by  all  men  handling 
that  business.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  high  cost  of  living — it  is  the  cost  of  high 
living.  That  is,  people  are  living  better  and  in  better  houses,  and  are  being  better 
clothed  and  better  fed  than  ever  before.  With  our  railroad  facilities  and  ability  to 
get  goods  here  from  all  over  the  world,  we  get  them  cheap  in  comparison.  If  we 
had  better  handling  facilities  we  could  distribute  the  goods  more  cheaply,  and  I  am 
satisfied  that  you  would  have  better  men  in  the  grocery  business. 

GEORGE  STADTLANDER, 

Retail  Grocer,  Manhattan 

1  have  two  stores  and  have  been  in  business  about  seventeen  years.  I  have  served 
as  Chairman  of  the  Retail  Grocers'  Association.  I  dealt  in  perishable  goods,  constitut- 
ing about  35  per  cent,  of  my  trade,  up  until  within  the  last  three  years,  but  gave  it  up 
because  the  work  was  too  hard.  The  hours  were  long,  as  it  was  necessary  to  get  up 
early  in  the  morning  and  keep  open  late  at  night,  and  the  work  of  handling  green 
goods  is  difficult.  One  has  to  get  up  at  three  or  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
then  at  seven  or  eight  o'clock  at  night,  when  every  other  man  is  through  for  the  day 
the  stuff  has  to  be  packed  away  nicely  so  as  to  preserve  it  for  the  next  day. 

I  principally  dealt  in  Gansevoort  Market,  although  I  tried  for  years  to  buy  directly 
from  the  docks.  I  found  that,  however,  almost  impossible.  Sometimes  I  would  go 
down  at  one  or  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  get  back  at  my  store  at  six,  with  only 
part  of  my  goods  bought  right.  I  finally  decided  that  life  was  too  short  and  there 
was  not  enough  in  it.  I  still  sell  fresh  fruit,  however.  To  get  my  supply  of  perish- 
able goods  I  stopped  at  from  ten  to  twelve  places  in  Gansevoort  Market,  from  com- 
mission merchants  to  farmers  and  speculators,  and  then  once  a  week  I  would  go  to 
the  commission  merchants  downtown  and  buy  merchandise,  such  goods  as  I  could  buy 
and  keep  three  days  or  a  week  and  that  would  not  spoil. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  price  of  perishable  goods  has  increased  much  in  New  York 
in  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years.  There  has  been  an  increase  in  real  prime  stuff.  At 
the  present  time,  consumers  demand  a  grade  of  goods  that  is  very  far  superior  to  the 
ordinary  goods  that  formerly  were  considered  good  enough.  The  consumer  to-day 
buys  ten  cents'  worth  of  apples  and  wants  every  apple  perfect.    There  are  apples 


240 


rotting  on  the  ground  in  the  country,  but  we  could  not  get  twenty-five  cents  a  barrel 
for  them  shipped  in  to  us.  In  the  country  they  will  go  into  the  garden,  pick  a  basket 
of  apples,  peel  them,  cut  out  the  worm  spots  and  specks,  and  then  turn  them  into 
good  apple  sauce,  but  you  cannot  get  them  to  do  that  here  in  New  York. 

We  certainly  have  difficulty  in  getting  prime  goods  from  the  farmers.  I  was 
hardly  ever  able  to  get  them  from  the  farmers  because,  in  spite  of  my  being  early 
in  the  morning,  there  were  in-between  men  there  before  me,  commission  merchants, 
and  dealers.  They  were  always  there  before  me  and  had  the  selection  of  the  farmers' 
goods  picked.  I  could  go  to  a  farmer  and  buy  beans  at  $1  a  bag,  but  the  dealers  would 
want  $1.50,  and  they  had  the  choice  thing  and  if  I  wanted  the  choice  I  had  to  pay  the 
price. 

Apples  are  graded  by  the  commission  merchants  generally.  I  believe  they  send 
their  own  men  to  the  country,  who  pack  them  there.  To  tell  the  truth,  I  would  not 
buy  apples  from  a  commission  merchant  if  I  were  not  told  that  his  own  men  packed 
them,  because  I  would  not  trust  the  farmers.  When  they  are  packing  their  apples 
in  the  country  they  will  put  a  stove  pipe  in  the  middle  of  the  barrel.  They  will  fill 
the  sides  with  good  stuiT,  but  in  the  middle,  down  the  stove  pipe,  they  will  dump  all 
their  bad  stuff.  Then  they  pull  out  the  stove  pipe  and  there  you  are.  As  a  conse- 
quence, the  up-to-date  commission  merchant  sends  his  own  men  to  the  country  now, 
who  do  the  packing  of  their  own  products.  They  then  mark  very  plainly  the  packages, 
X,  XX,  XXX,  or  XXXX,  as  the  case  may  be,  indicating  the  quality  of  the  product. 
I  think  it  would  be  an  excellent  plan  for  the  farmers  to  have  an  association  whereby 
they  could  guarantee  whatever  produce  they  send  to  market.  I  think  there  would  be  a 
feeling  of  better  security  and  the  result  would  be  better  all  round.  Of  course,  there 
are  individual  farmers  whose  goods  are  well  known  and  from  whom  purchases  are 
made  without  any  question.  There  are  many  such.  Confidence  in  the  seller  induces 
the  buyer  to  buy  without  any  question.  If  goods'  were  guaranteed  by  some  cooperative 
association  of  farmers,  that  would  help;  and  if  we  had  two  or  three  grades,  and  goods 
were  graded  by  competent  and  honest  men,  we  would  know  just  what  to  do. 

To  improve  market  conditions  here,  I  think  Manhattan  ought  to  have  one  market 
at  least  twice  the  size  of  the  present  Gansevoort  Market,  with  wide  streets  where  the 
farmers  could  drive  in  and  stand  comfortably,  and  where  the  buyers,  such  as  grocers 
and  peddlers,  could  drive  in  conveniently  and  go  up  to  their  wagons  and  buy  their 
goods  without  blocking  traffic  and  being  delayed.  And  I  believe  The  Bronx  ought  to 
have  one  or  two  such  and  I  think  we  ought  to  have  another  market  at  185th  Street 
along  Washington  Heights.  I  think  these  should  be  wholesale  markets.  I  should 
not  object  to  there  being  a  retail  department  where  the  farmers  could  sell  their  stuff. 
If  retailers  could  get  their  goods  more  cheaply  they  could  sell  more  cheaply.  The 
selling  price  is  determined  by  the  buying  price.  That  works  quickly  and  entirely 
automatically. 

If  the  grocers  could  get  their  supplies  more  directly  and  at  one  place  and  more 
cheaply,  I  think  they  would  sell  more  goods  than  they  do  now,  and  I  believe  they 
would  take  more  interest  in  it.  That  would  increase  the  demand  and  would  induce 
the  farmers  to  send  more  goods  in.  And  if  the  farmer  could  come  into  closer  con- 
tact with  the  buyer  direct,  I  mean  the  retail  grocer,  he  would  be  more  pleased.  I  do 
not  think  any  means  can  be  devised  whereby  the  middleman  can  be  cut  out.  He  pro- 
vides supplies  for  the  market  from  abroad  when  a  shortage  is  threatened.  That  is 
one  of  the  necessities  of  the  business  about  which  the  public  knows  nothing.  There 
is  no  question  but  that  the  people  on  the  farms  get  careless  in  packing  and  shipping 
their  goods.  You  must  have  some  middleman  who  will  take  charge  of  that  detail  and 
watch  the  product  and  see  that  it  is  perfectly  fresh  and  in  proper  condition.  Without 
such  a  middleman  the  result  is  apt  to  be  bad. 

I  do  not  think  municipal  retail  markets  located  by  the  city  in  various  sections  are 


241 


advisable.  They  might  be  made  a  success,  but  I  cannot  see  any  reason  why  they 
should  be  made  a  success.  There  is  no  way  of  distributing  food  products  better  than 
what  is  done  now.  The  retail  grocer  in  the  business  now  does  not  make  a  great 
fortune.  Only  5  per  cent,  of  the  retail  grocers  survive  the  strain  and  stay  in  the  busi- 
ness. 

The  systems  of  chain  stores  have  a  central  or  distributing  station.  They  buy  in 
large  lots  in  the  various  markets  and  send  the  goods  around  to  the  smaller  stations 
throughout  the  city.  I  am  just  opening  up  a  chain  of  stores.  Just  as  soon  as  a  store 
does  not  make  a  profit  I  close  it  up.  I  do  not  own  the  stores,  I  rent  them.  I  do  not 
think  that  such  a  chain  of  stores  could  possibly  be  operated  by  the  city  successfully. 
Forty  per  cent,  of  the  retail  grocer's  business  is  in  butter,  eggs,  and  sugar.  Those 
commodities  produce  a  profit  of  from  4  to  7  per  cent.  A  retail  grocer  who  delivers 
must  make  from  IS  to  16  per  cent,  in  order  to  continue  doing  business.  It  costs  me, 
in  my  chain  of  stores,  about  11  to  12  per  cent,  to  do  business.  The  result  is  I  have 
made  about  3  per  cent,  clear  profit,  and  that  is  not  any  too  much.  The  city  could 
not  do  business  as  cheaply  as  that;  it  would  cost  them  35  per  cent.  We  have  to  figure 
very  closely  to  make  anything. 

If  the  retailer  could  get  his  goods  directly  from  the  wholesale  terminal  he  could 
sell  more  economically  than  he  does  now,  and  more  economically  than  either  the 
municipal  retail  markets  rented  out  to  stall  holders,  or  a  municipal  chain  of  markets, 
because  there  would  be  more  competition  among  the  individual  merchants  after  the 
trade.  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  a  good  plan  to  have  all  the  market  places  in  New 
York  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  one  association  of  producers  and  consumers,  be- 
cause it  would  cut  out  all  competition.  I  think  a  railroad  terminal  is  necessary  as 
well  as  a  farmers'  market.    Both  should  be  in  one  spot. 

Some  of  the  consumers  in  New  York  are  very  unreasonable.  They  think,  intelli- 
gent people,  too^ — that  because  the  sun  shines  one  day  out  of  two,  or  because  it  rains 
one  day  out  of  sixty  sunny  days,  that  salads  ought  to  be  cheaper.  They  do  not  realize 
that  seasons  vary  and  that  some  seasons  are  very  poor  for  the  production  of  different 
kinds  of  salads.  They  do  not  seem  to  realize  that  a  long  dry  season  will  have  a  very 
bad  effect  upon  the  quality  of  the  goods,  but  think  that  if  it  happens  to  rain  one  day 
that  is  sufficient  to  cure  all  the  trouble  that  has  been  caused  by  the  long  dry  season. 

Then,  again,  many  people  have  charge  accounts  in  retail  grocery  stores.  In  the 
very  early  season,  long  before  the  local  markets  are  producing  anything,  produce  from 
the  far  Southern  states  is  brought  in  and  it  naturally  brings  high  prices.  People 
order  goods  ancj  never  ask  the  price,  and  we  would  not  tell  them  the  price  because,  if 
we  did,  they  would  feel  insulted.  Then,  about  a  month  later,  they  get  their  itemized 
bills.  By  that  time  the  produce  is  cheap.  They  look  at  the  bill  and  they  say,  "That 
grocer  is  robbing  us."    Then  they  go  to  another  store. 

CHARLES  HASLOP, 

Retail  Grocer,  Manhattan 

I  have  been  in  the  retail  grocery  business  about  twenty-five  years,  and  do  a  busi- 
ness of  about  $25,000  a  year.'  About  40  per  cent,  of  my  trade  is  in  perishable  goods. 
In  the  last  ten  years  the  price  of  perishable  goods  has  risen  and  fallen.  Of  course, 
when  goods  are  scarce  in  any  line,  the  prices  will  naturally  stiffen  up.  Speculators 
under  such  conditions  can  often  get  in  and  control  the  market,  but  when  goods  are 
plentiful  they  cannot  do  that — the  matter  is  determined  by  supply  and  demand. 
•  I  do  all  my  marketing  from  Gansevoort  Market  to  West  14th  Street.  You  cannot 
buy  all  in  one  place.  1  go  around  and  see  as  many  farmers  as  I  can  until  satisfied 
that  I  have  the  right  goods.    Then  I  go  into  Washington  Street  from  12th  to  14th 


242 


Streets  and  there  are  some  direct  receivers  there.  I  buy  oranges  from  a  wholesaler; 
potatoes  and  turnips  I  buy  from  receivers;  green  vegetables  I  buy  directly  from  the 
farmers.  I  suppose  it  would  facilitate  my  work  if  all  these  people  could  be  found  in 
one  market  If  we  had  the  railroads,  such  as  the  New  York  Central  and  the  Lehigh 
Valley  coming  into  one  big  central  place,  it  would  help.  I  get  my  turnips  and  potatoes 
at  the  New  York  Central  yards  and  get  them  a  little  lower  than  downtown.  But  the 
people  downtown  who  rehandle  the  stuff  do  not  overcharge.  They  just  charge  a  nor- 
mal profit  for  handling.  In  the  railroad  yard  you  are  never  sure  of  getting  the  same 
grade  of  goods  twice ;  you  have  to  take  a  chance. 

If  a  Farmers'  Association  were  formed  up-state  to  grade  its  goods  and  guarantee 
them,  it  would  create  confidence  and  would  also  eliminate  a  great  deal  of  waste.  The 
creation  of  confidence  and  the  improvement  in  the  condition '  of  the  product  always 
tend  to  facilitate  trade.  If  the  farmer  were  satisfied  that  the  full  quantity  of  goods 
he  raised  could  be  sold  at  a  fair  price,  he  would  raise  as  much  as  possible.  That 
would  bring  more  goods  into  the  market  and  would  have  a  tendency  to  reduce  prices. 
It  would  also  reduce  the  trouble  and  worry  of  the  retail  dealer  in  getting  his  goods. 

Weather  conditions  and  congestion  on  the  docks  often  give  receivers  and  whole- 
salers difficulty  in  getting  their  goods  into  the  market.  They  send  trucks  down  to 
the  different  piers  for  berries,  for  instance,  and  have  to  cart  them  from  down  below 
Harrison  Street  to  Gansevoort  Market.  There  occurs  a  delay  of  an  hour  or  two 
hours.  Each  truck  has  to  take  its  turn;  they  have  to  check  the  packages  on  the  dock 
and,  of  course,  there  are  a  great  many  trucks.  All  that  adds  to  the  cost  If  all  the 
stuff  could  be  run  right  into  one  market  where  all  that  delay  might  be  obviated  and 
that  cost  eliminated  I  think  it  would  be  much  better. 

I  have  considered  municipal  retail  markets  located  around  the  city  in  various  places 
and  rented  out  to  stall  holders,  and  I  do  not  think  they  are  economical.  I  do  not 
think  that  goods  would  be  any  cheaper  in  them  than  they  are  to-day.  How  can  you 
expect  to  get  anyone  to  work  as  the  retailer  works  now,  who  has  his  entire  fortune 
at  stake?  He  works  fourteen  or  fifteen  hours  a  day,  always  striving  to  eliminate  that 
extra  cost,  and  he  has  to  compete  with  all  the  other  retailers.  There  is  very  close 
and  keen  competition,  and  he  has  to  take  many  chances. 

Much  harm  is  done  by  the  untruthful  statements  printed  in  the  newspapers.  I  saw 
in  the  Times  the  other  day  that  there  could  be  gotten  75  quarts  of  apples  out  of  one 
barrel.  That  is  not  true.  I  get  about  35,  if  you  figure  dry  measure.  I  live  in  a 
neighborhood  populated  by  middle-class  people;  perhaps  some  stores  do  not  have  to 
give  as  good  measure  as  I  have  to  give.    I  use  a  4-pound  bag  and  fill  it  for  a  quart 

A  barrel  of  potatoes  is  supposed  to  weigh  180  pounds.  I  give  4  pounds  of  potatoei 
to  a  quart ;  I  fill  a  4-pound  bag — it  may  be  one-quarter  of  a  pound,  more  or  less,  than 
4  pounds.  Now,  you  divide  160  pounds  by  4  and  you  have  40  quarts.  I  am  figuring 
20  pounds  less  out  of  that  barrel  of  potatoes  because  of  waste.  You  will  always  find 
that  there  is  a  lot  of  dirt  and  other  cause  of  waste  in  a  barrel. 

WALTER  J.  BECK, 

Dealer  in  Meat  and  Poultry,  Fruit,  and  Vegetables, 
in  Washington  Market 

Our  firm  has  been  in  business  for  thirty-five  years,  catering  to  private  families 
uptown  and  the  downtown  restaurant  trade.  From  April  to  September  we  handle 
from  $5,000  to  $7,000  worth  of  fruit.  From  September  until  March  our  sales  of 
vegetables  amount  to  $6,000  to  $7,000  a  month.  The  value  of  the  poultry  we  sell  is 
about  one-third  that  of  the  vegetables.  I  deliver  to  my  customers  and  make  no  extra 
charge. 


243 


Stuff  shipped  into  New  York  comes  no  farther  than  the  terminal  unless  sent  by 
express.  The  conditions  at  our  delivery  points  are  very  poor.  The  commission  men 
pay  the  transportation  charges  on  their  commodities  and  are  allotted  space  on  the 
piers,  for  which  they  pay  nothing  additional.  They  have  the  use  of  it  during  certain 
hours  for  the  transaction  of  their  business.  The  foreman  in  charge  ot  the  pier 
designates  the  amount  of  space  needed  for  a  load  of  stuff.  Some  commission  men 
take  their  goods  right  to  their  stores,  but  the  majority  of  the  stuff  is  sold  on  the 
dock.  The  retail  grocer  usually  buys  from  a  second  commission  man  and  takes  away 
his  own  goods.  There  is  practically  no  handling  of  the  goods  by  the  commission 
man  except  loading  them  onto  the  second  man's  truck.  If  more  stuff  comes  in  than 
the  day's  trade  will  take,  some  docks  are  large  enough  to  carry  it  over,  and  on  others 
it  has  to  be  sold  off  at  low  prices.  The  New  York  Central  Dock  at  Barclay  Street 
is  large  enough  to  carry  it  over ;  at  Desbrosses  Street  the  stuff  has  to  be  sold  by  3 
o'clock;  spinach  coming  in  in  the  winter  at  the  Old  Dominion  Dock  has  to  be 
sold  by  8  or  9  o'clock  in  the  morning  because  they  need  the  room  for  other  freight. 

There  is  always  a  big  demand  in  New  York  City  for  good  stuff.  The  best  stuff 
brings  the  highest  price  early  in  the  morning.  A  large  retail  dealer  usually  maintains 
a  buyer,  who  does  nothing  but  buy.  Some  Italian  dealers  form  small  companies  of 
five  or  six  dealers,  who  employ  one  man  to  buy  for  them  and  distribute  to  them. 

I  have  to  visit  seven  or  eight  points  of  delivery  to  get  supplies,  but  these  are  all 
in  one  district.  The  stuff  comes  from  different  points  and  at  different  hours.  Very 
few  stores  need  more  than  two  buyers,  and  it  is  seldom  they  have  two.  Owing  to 
congestion  there  is  delay  in  getting  the  stuff  off  the  docks.  Some  dealers'  trucks  get 
in  line  at  8  o'clock  at  night  to  take  a  delivery  away  at  1  in  the  morning;  then,  some- 
times they  have  been  known  to  wait  from  1  until  5  in  the  morning  before  they  could 
get  down  to  the  pier  and  back  with  a  load.  That,  of  course,  is  a  trucking  delay  and 
does  not  keep  the  buyer. 

The  piers  open  at  different  hours ;  the  Barclay  Street  Dock  opens  at  7  o'clock,  the 
Old  Dominion  Line  Pier  at  a  quarter  to  5,  and  the  Pennsylvania  at  5,  so  that  there 
is  time  to  get  to  all  of  them.  When  a  buyer  goes  to  the  dock  he  views  the  stuff  dis- 
played and  buys  a  certain  number  of  packages,  and  the  man  gives  him  a  slip  calling 
for  his  purchase.  This  slip  he  gives  to  the  driver.  As  far  as  he  himself  is  concerned, 
he  is  through.  He  then  goes  and  attends  to  the  rest  of  his  buying,  which  is  done  in 
the  same  way.  The  driver  goes  on  the  dock  and  loads  the  stuff  there.  They  charge 
one  cent  to  load  the  package  on  the  wagon.  That  is  the  way  the  thing  works  out 
practically. 

On  a  commodity  like  string  beans  the  retail  price  is  from  IS  to  20  per  cent,  in 
advance  of  the  wholesale  price,  or  from  25  to  50  cents  a  package  worth  from  $2.75  to 
$4.00,  and  containing  from  20  to  25  pounds.  I  do  not  think  the  advance  is  more  than 
that  because  competition  is  so  keen  to-day  that  it  cannot  be  made  more.  If  we  can 
make  75  cents  to  a  dollar  for  retailing  out  20  pounds  of  beans,  we  think  we  are  doing 
well.   We  generally  figure  3  to  5  cents  advance  on  a  quart  on  an  article  of  that  kind. 

From  my  observation  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  farmer  was  never  better  off 
than  he  is  to-day,  and  the  public  are  getting  their  stuff  as  cheap,  I  think,  as  they 
ever  did. 

WILLIAM  LITCHENFELS, 

Retail  Grocer,  The  Bronx 

I  have  been  in  the  business  thirteen  years  and  am  familiar  with  the  condition  of 
the  grocery  trade  in  The  Bronx.  Of  the  perishable  goods,  I  handle  chiefly  potatoes, 
and  now,  during  the  fall  and  winter,  oranges  and  lemons.  The  men  who  handle 
other  perishable  goods  have  to  go  to  the  Harlem  Market.    The  potatoes  come  down 


244 


on  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  to  the  Harlem  River  Station.  We  buy 
them  right  out  of  the  cars. 

For  other  things  we  go  to  the  Harlem  Market,  at  102nd  Street  and  First  Avenue, 
to  which  the  produce  is  trucked  up  from  downtown.  It  is  an  intermediate  station. 
All  of  the  grocers  in  The  Bronx  go  to  the  Harlem  Market;  some  of  them  even  go 
down  to  Washington  Market,  a  distance  of  about  10  or  12  miles.  I  do  not  think 
we  get  our  perishable  goods  in  The  Bronx  as  cheaplj'  as  we  ought  to.  The  only 
way  to  change  it,  that  I  can  see,  is  to  open  a  market — open  a  big  wholesale  market 
and  let  everybody  come  in,  so  that  the  retailers  can  go  there  and  get  their  stuff. 
That  is  the  only  way.  Naturally  a  market  where  all  railroads  came  in  would  be 
better  than  a  market  where  only  one  railroad  came  in. 

So  far  as  I  know,  there  are  no  farmers'  trucks  coming  into  The  Bronx  now, 
though  there  used  to  be  in  the  Port  Morris  Market.  All  the  supplies  are  brought 
in  from  the  Harlem  Market  or  the  West  Washington  Market,  with  the  exception 
of  the  small  supplies  brought  in  by  railroads  and  sold  out  of  the  cars.  The  prices 
in  The  Bronx  are  naturally  higher  because  you  have  to  charge  for  cartage. 

I  do  not  know  just  why  the  Port  Morris  Market  was  discontinued.  Probably 
not  enough  farmers  came  to  it,  and  the  variety  of  goods  handled  there  did  not  satisfy 
the  retail  grocers  and  the  Italians  who  handled  the  vegetables.  The  variety  there 
was  not  sufficient,  and  so  they  were  obliged  to  come  downtown.  That  is  the  reason 
people  go  to  the  Harlem  Market  now  instead  of  patronizing  one  or  two  merchants 
now  in  The  Bronx  who  are  trying  to  do  business  with  the  fruit  and  perishable  goods 
men  there.  The  larger  the  market  the  greater  the  variety.  Another  disadvantage 
of  the  Port  Morris  Market  was  that  it  took  about  as  long  to  drive  there  as  to  drive 
to  the  Harlem  Market,  where  there  was  much  greater  variety.  Also,  in  such  a  place, 
you  are  always  sure  of  a  market  value  because  people  go  to  shop  there.  The  greater 
the  variety  supplied  the  better  the  chance  is  to  trade.  A  little  market  is  always  under 
a  handicap. 

During  the  summer  months  I  send  my  driver  down  to  the  Old  Dominion  Line  to 
buy  new  potatoes,  down  at  Rector  Street.  He  goes  on  the  dock  there  and  buys  new 
potatoes  by  the  barrel.  That  is  a  drive  of  about  20  miles.  It  takes  about  two  hours  to 
go  down  and  longer  to  drive  back  with  a  load,  and  often  he  has  to  wait. 

I  have  not  considered  seriously  retail  markets  spread  around  through  the  city 
under  the  control  of  the  city.  So  far  as  The  Bronx  is  concerned,  I  think  one  large 
wholesale  market  would  better  conditions. 

PETER  A.  PECKICH, 

Retail  Grocer,  The  Bronx 

I  handle  dry  groceries  and  potatoes.  I  carried  green  groceries  about  five  years 
ago,  but  cannot  do  it  now  because  I  cannot  go  down  to  the  market  and  get  the 
goods.  I  would  lose  half  a  day  buying  the  stuff  and  could  not  attend  to  my  other 
business.  I  have  to  sublet  my  storefront  to  an  Italian,  and  he  sells,  that  kind  of 
goods.  The  man  I  have  goes  down  during  the  summer  to  Washington  Market  from 
169th  Street.  He  makes  a  special  trip  for  berries  and  things  of  that  sort.  He  has 
a  horse  and  starts  in  the  evening  about  10  o'clock  and  is  back  about  10  o'clock  the 
next  morning,  spending  the  night  down  at  the  market. 

There  aren't  any  markets  around  The  Bronx  where  one  can  get  these  things. 
I  drove  down  to  the  Port  Morris  Market  once,  when  I  handled  that  stuff,  but  I 
found  I  was  losing  time  going  there  because  it  was  such  a  long  way  and  was  so 
hilly  that  I  could  not  go  there  as  quickly  as  I  could  to  101st  Street,  to  the  Harlem 
Market.    Then,  they  had  goods  there  only  during  the  seasons  when  the  Long  Island 


245 


farmers  grew  them.  The  rest  of  the  year  they  had  nothing.  That  was  one  great 
trouble.  I  could  not  get  all  I  wanted  there  and  the  driving  was  more  out  of  the 
way  than  going  to  the  Harlem  Market. 

The  prices  of  green  vegetables  in  The  Bronx  are  very  high.  I  think  we  ought 
to  have  a  wholesale  market  up  there  where  we  can  get  them  in  quantities  so  it  would 
reduce  the  prices.  The  bigger  the  market  the  greater  the  variety.  If  we  had  more 
railroads  we  would  get  the  goods  from  all  directions,  at  all  times  of  the  year.  We 
would  then  have  a  bigger  variety  and  a  steadier  trade. 

TRUCKING 

GEORGE  STAMBERGER, 

Truckman 

Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  Chairman  of  the  Market 
Truckman's  Association 

I  have  been  in  the  trucking  business  since  1888.  I  have  eight  trucks — two  double 
and  six  single  trucks,  and  truck  vegetables  and  fruit,  eggs,  poultry,  butter,  and  cheese. 
I  operate  on  the  West  Side  from  Canal  Street  to  the  Lehigh  Valley,  and  on  the 
East  Side  from  Pier  8  to  Pier  50,  trucking  for  George  J.  Ziegler  and  Company,  deal- 
ing in  produce  and  fruits,  Beyer  Brothers'  Commission  Company,  dealing  in  butter, 
eggs,  and  poultry,  and  Gleason  and  Wendt. 

I  make  my  agreements  directly  with  the  people  I  do  work  for.  The  rate  is  by 
the  package  and  depends  upon  the  distance.  The  charges  are  different  for  different 
zones — such  as  Canal  Street  to  14th  Street,  14th  Street  to  Harlem  Market,  to  Walla- 
bout  Market  in  Brooklyn,  etc.  The  rate  also  varies  according  to  the  size  of  the 
package  carried.  Outside  of  the  zones  mentioned  in  the  published  rates  of  the 
Market  Truckman's  Association,  any  trucking  is  by  private  agreement. 

My  trucking  is  all  done  by  horse  truck,  the  crew  of  a  double  truck  consisting  of 
one  driver  and  two  horses.  There  is  no  helper  on  the  truck,  but  on  all  the  piers  we 
have  loaders.  The  boss  carman  pays  the  loaders  on  the  piers.  The  loading  rate  is 
75  cents  per  hundred  for  small  packages  and  $1  for  barrels,  whether  it  is  spinach  or 
cabbage  or  something  else.  Sometimes  we  have  to  pay  a  cent  and  a  half  on  potatoes. 
The  drivers  do  not  load. 

We  truck  from  the  piers  to  the  stores,  or  to  terminals  for  outgoing  shipment,  ac- 
cording to  orders.  The  receiver  usually  hires  us  and  pays  the  trucking  fees  and  we 
run  weekly  accounts. 

The  rates  are  fixed  so  that  we  may  have  a  general  cartage.  They  are  based 
upon  the  united  experience  of  the  truckmen  and  the  trade  they  serve  as  to  what 
would  be  a  fair  return  for  the  trucking  done  under  the  present  circumstances.  Some- 
times there  is  a  good  deal  of  delay  at  the  terminals  in  getting  perishable  goods.  In 
the  summer  time,  when  they  have  delivery  at  1  a.  m.,  we  have  to  get  the  trucks  there 
anywhere  from  6  to  10  o'clock  at  night  so  that  we  can  get  our  goods  out  early  enough 
for  the  firms  we  do  trucking  for  to  make  their  express  shipments. 

I  figure  that  I  have  to  get  $7  on  a  single  and  $10  a  day  on  a  double  truck  before 
I  can  commence  to  make  a  profit.  Twelve  hours  constitutes  a  day's  work  and  we 
charge  30  cents  an  hour  for  all  time  over  that.  The  rates  are  based  on  the  fact 
that  we  have  to  submit  to  delays.  Because  of  the  delay  the  truck  is  thrown  out  of 
work  for  part  of  the  time  and  therefore  we  can  carry  a  less  number  of  parcels  than 
we  otherwise  could,  and  must  charge  more  on  each  parcel  and  that  has  a  tendency 
to  increase  the  cost  of  the  goods.  We  have  the  delay  all  along  the  river.  In  the 
morning,  on  all  the  railroad  piers,  they  do  not  handle  their  outbound  freight  until 


246 


the  inbound  is  all  unloaded  and,  in  the  meantime,  the  accumulation  is  so  that  when 
we  send  a  truck  down  there  at  10  or  11  in  the  morning  we  do  not  get  it  back  until 
2  or  3  in  the  afternoon.  Goods  are  all  piled  up  there  so  that  you  cannot  unload. 
Of  course,  in  the  summer,  when  the  sun  gets  on  the  goods,  they  are  bound  to  be  in- 
jured in  some  degree.  So  far  as  our  line  is  concerned,  rebating  is  stopped.  The 
congestion  of  outgoing  freight  tends  to  drive  the  out-of-town  trade  to  other  cities. 
Years  ago,  I  sent,  in  butter  season,  anywhere  from  10  to  25  loads  to  the  depot 
for  one  concern,  and  at  the  present  time  those  people  do  not  have  enough  for  their 
own  wagons. 

If  the  facilities  were  better,  so  that  we  did  not  have  these  delays,  we  could  charge 
a  less  rate  and  make  just  as  much  money  as  now.  The  less  handhng  goods  have  the 
less  will  be  their  cost.  If  we  could  decrease  the  charges  on  goods,  probably  more 
would  come  in  and  they  would  therefore  be  cheaper.  The  truckmen  would  have 
more  to  handle,  so  they  would  suffer  no  harm;  the  farmer  would  not  be  harmed; 
nor  would  the  consumer,  because  he  would  get  his  goods  cheaper. 

M.    C.  MICHAEL, 

Truckman 

Secretary  of  the  Market  Truckmen's  Association 

My  business  is  to  keep  my  employers  out  of  difficulties  in  gathering  freight  at 
the  piers  and  shipping  it,  and  once  in  a  while  have  a  little  excitement  with  the  traffic 
regulations  and  the  labor  organizations.  The  schedule  of  trucking  rates  is  made  up 
in  an  equitable  manner  between  the  commission  merchants  and  the  carmen.  They 
are  based  on  the  performance  of  the  truck,  cost  of  maintenance,  etc.  A  double  truck 
costs  about  $450,  and  is  supposed  to  last  three  years.  The  driver  is  paid  $3  a  day  for 
12  hours  a  day  from  the  time  he  leaves  the  stable,  and  30  cents  an  hour  for  each 
hour  overtime,  six  days  in  the  week.  The  summer  time  is  the  busy  season.  The 
average  wage  of  a  man  driving  a  team  is  about  $24  or  $26.  A  pair  of  horses  costs 
from  $600  to  $750.  A  man  should  average  from  $8  to  $10  a  day  for  a  double  truck 
and  $7  for  a  single  truck  before  he  begins  to  make  a  profit. 

The  object  of  the  formation  of  our  Association  was  to  cut  out  the  rebates.  We 
make  that  cartage  rate  as  low  as  we  possibly  can  with  protection  to  ourselves.  We 
think  we  have  succeeded  in  cutting  out  rebates  as  far  as  the  New  York  commission 
men  are  concerned.  Some  shipping  houses  with  representatives  here  still  collect  what 
is  in  effect  a  rebate  in  the  form  of  a  "dock  cartage,"  which  they  charge  for  the  priv- 
ilege of  going  on  the  dock  and  moving  the  stuff. 

We  find  the  railroad  terminals  so  congested  that  oftentimes  a  man  can  only  ride 
one  load  where  he  should  ride  three.  In  the  forenoon  the  delays  are  one  to  two 
hours,  as  a  rule,  which,  as  the  truck  costs  about  $9  a  day,  may  be  figured  as  a  loss 
of  75  cents  an  hour.  Sometimes  there  is  a  delay  of  half  a  day.  We  have  to  charge 
an  average  rate  which  will  cover  all  these  things.  It  is  a  great  disadvantage  to  the 
trade  to  have  these  delays. 

REFRIGERATION 

FRANK    A.  HORNE, 

President,  Merchants'  Refrigerating  Company 

The  Merchants'  Refrigerating  Company  operates  cold  storage  warehouses  for 
the  storage  of  food  products  and  other  goods  under  refrigeration.  Our  houses  in 
New  York  City  are  located  at  Nos.  22  to  32  Beach  Street,  Nos.  27  to  37  North  Moore 


247 


Street,  Nos.  161  to  163  Chambers  Street,  Nos.  141  to  149  Reade  Street,  Nos.  148  to 
152  Reade  Street,  No.  92  Warren  Street,  Nos.  77  to  79  Hudson  Street,  Nos.  3  to  11, 
14  and  16  Harrison  Street,  No.  179  Franklin  Street,  and  No.  195  Franklin  Street; 
we  also  have  warehouses  at  Warren  and  First  Streets,  Jersey  City,  and  at  Nos.  41  to 
47  River  Street,  Newark.  In  our  New  York  City  houses  we  have  a  capacity  of 
3,694,141  cubic  feet  of  refrigeration,  and  in  the  Jersey  City  house  3,500,000  cubic  feet. 
Our  investment  in  real  estate  and  equipment  in  this  city  is  a  little  over  a  million  and 
a  half. 

The  following  statement  indicates  the  goods  we  handled  between  February  1,  1912, 
and  February  1,  1913: 


N.  Y.  houses.  Jersey  City.  Both. 

Eggs  (cases)   186,519  427,645  614,164 

Butter  (packages)   84,369  72,595  156,964 

Cheese  (boxes)   103,998  1,507  105,505 

Poultry  (packages)   96,337  133,767  203,104 

Meats  (packages  and  pieces)   8,521  23,136  31,657 

Dried  fruits  (packages)   327,325  11,027  338,352 

Nuts  (packages)   127,849  1,007  128,856 

Grape  fruit  (barrels)   29,957  34,922  64,897 

Grape  fruit  (boxes)   88,124  144,903  233,027 

Various  (packages)   122,835  69,274  192,109 


Total   1,175,834         917,783  2,095,617 


The  maximum  holdings,  with  the  dates,  are  as  follows: 

New  York  houses.  Jersey  City.  Both. 

Eggs  (cases)                                      7/19  154,430  8/2  408,459       8/2  562,404 

(30  doz.  cases) 

Butter  (packages)                               8/30  65,229  8/31  71,533       8/30  136,777 

(60  Avg.  No.) 

Cheese  (boxes)                                 9/14  55,027  7/29  1,200      9/14  56,050 

(45  No.) 

Poultry  (packages)                            1/29  40,466  1/17  70,303       1/17  109,976 

(65  Avg.  No.) 

Meats  (packages  and  pieces)                 9/23  2,485  12/28  12,299     12/28  14,159 

(55  Avg.  No.) 

Dried  fruits  (packages)                        5/28  222,180  7/1  6,984  5/28  226,832 

(40  Avg.  No.) 

Nuts  (packages)                                 6/12  91,033  8/12  794       6/12  91,611 

(70  Avg.  No.) 

Grape  fruit  (barrels)   11/21  23,404  12/1  33,812      11/29  56,226 

Grape  fruit  (boxes)   12/7  59,311  12/23  81,670     12/19  136,203 

Various   8/26  46,350  9/21  17,810       8/30  59,662 


Goods  stored  with  us  are  owned  by  local  merchants,  commission  merchants,  job- 
bers, wholesale  grocers,  and  also  by  Western  shippers  and  dealers  in  these  products. 
We  do  not  own  these  goods  ourselves.  We  have  warehouses  and  store  for  hire  only. 
In  some  cases  we  make  advances  on  the  goods  stored;  as  an  average  percentage  of 
loans  we  figure  75  per  cent.    In  some  cases  it  ranges  from  SO  to  75  per  cent. 

In  my  experience  of  twenty-five  years  I  have  not  noticed  any  effort  or  tendency 
to  corner  products  stored.  These  goods  are  held  by  merchants  all  over  the  country 
and  they  are  in  competition  with  each  other.  Our  buildings  would  not  be  sufficient 
to  hold  in  sufficient  quantities  products  to  constitute  a  corner.  I  have  made  a  study 
of  methods  affecting  the  number  and  diversity  of  the  owners  of  products  in  cold 
storage,  and  would  like  to  offer  a  statement  that  may  throw  some  light  on  the  subject. 

The  public  cold  storage  warehouse  men  do  not  own  directly  or  indirectly  the 
goods  stored,  and  their  customers  number  many  thousands  of  independent  pro- 


248 


ducers,  shippers,  commission  merchants,  and  dealers  in  the  products  stored,  repre- 
senting every  section  of  the  country.  There  never  has  been  and  could  not  be  any 
combination  or  control  whatever  to  regulate  supplies  and  prices  or  produce  a  corner 
in  these  articles. 

The  maximum  quantity  of  goods  in  storage  during  1910,  according  to  the  reports 
of  twenty-seven  warehouses,  is  as  follows : 


Eggs   2,088,401  cases,  30  dozen  to  the  case. 

Butter  56,802,158  pounds. 

Meats  30,169,252  pounds. 

Poultry  and  game  28,379,136  pounds. 

Fish  23,369,967  pounds. 


The  number  of  storers  was  9,380.  It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that,  of  the 
storers,  many  are  commission  merchants,  each  of  whom  represents  a  large  number 
of  shippers  and  owners  of  the  products  stored.  There  were  thirty-nine  states  repre- 
sented. 

The  number  of  customers  of  the  Merchants'  Refrigerating  Company  of  New  York 
and  New  Jersey,  which  is  typical  of  the  large  storage  concerns,  is,  for  New  York, 
representing  23  states,  992  customers ;  for  New  Jersey,  representing  19  states,  450. 

As  to  the  effect  of  cold  storage  on  prices,  the  prices  are  governed  by  the  trade 
law  of  supply  and  demand,  which  is  operative  as  to  stored  goods  as  well  as  to  other 
merchandise,  and  a  study  of  market  prices  will  demonstrate  this  fact.  Cold  storage 
facilities  stimulate  production,  increase  the  volume  of  perishable  goods,  extend  the 
period  of  consumption,  and  result  in  lower  average  prices  to  the  public. 

As  to  the  effect  of  cold  storage  on  health,  it  is  certainly  not  detrimental.  The 
modern  cold  storage  warehouse  has  reached  a  high  state  of  scientific  development, 
and  the  sanitary,  physical,  and  thermal  conditions  are,  as  they  should  be,  of  the 
highest  order.  The  most  rigid  inspection  and  supervision  would  be  welcome.  The 
quality  of  the  goods  in  the  warehouses  depends  upon  their  condition  when  placed 
in  storage  rather  than  upon  the  length  of  time  the  goods  are  carried.  We  therefore 
favor  supervisory  regulation  and  inspection  before  the  goods  are  received  in  cold 
storage.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  goods  offered  for  storage  are  generally  of  the 
best  quality  and  condition,  as  it  is  commercially  unprofitable  to  store  other  kinds. 
Such  goods  may  be  carried  in  a  wholesome  state,  as  determined  by  scientific  experi- 
ment and  practical  expert  knowledge  at  least  from  one  season  to  the  next,  twelve 
months  later. 

Time  limits  arbitrarily  imposed  would  be  absolutely  destructive  of  the  cold  storage 
industry  and  gravely  affect  and  restrict,  and  in  some  cases  practically  wipe  out  the 
industries  that  patronize  cold  storage  houses.  It  is  estimated  that  the  investment  in 
public  cold  storage  warehouses  that  store  for  hire  in  the  open  market  is  over  $75,- 
000,000.  The  flush  period  of  greatest  production  comes  but  once  a  year.  With  no 
possibility  of  carrying  the  goods  to  the  time  of  scarcity  the  function  of  the  cold 
storage  warehouse  men  would  be  entirely  eliminated.  The  business  could  not  exist 
on  mere  temporary  preservation.  At  present  large  quantities  are  carried  for  from 
eight  to  twelve  months.  If  the  time  were  very  much  limited,  goods  would  not  be 
stored  for  the  short  period  and,  even  if  they  were,  the  houses  would  be  practically 
empty  three-quarters  of  the  time,  which  would  destroy  the  business.  The  largest 
quantities  are  kept  from  six  to  ten  months,  but  considerable  quantities  are  held  up 
to  twelve  months  and  frequently  longer.  It  is  not  customary  to  carry  goods  longer 
than  twelve  months  except  under  unusual  conditions.  It  is  not  true  that  deliveries 
are  made  "from  the  bottom  of  the  pile."  This  is  evidenced  by  the  large  number  of 
withdrawals  of  goods  stored  for  only  one  or  two  months.   In  the  case  of  eggs,  those 


249 


stored  in  July  are  often  removed  in  large  quantities  in  two  or  three  months,  while 
the  goods  stored  in  April  or  May  remain  in  store  from  six  to  ten  months. 

Any  provision  prohibiting  restorage  of  goods  in  cold  storage  would  be  entirely 
inimical  to  the  public  interest  and  at  variance  with  the  best  known  methods  of 
handling  perishable  products  in  order  to  keep  them  in  proper  condition  for  the  market. 
It  has  been  suggested  to  prohibit  goods  that  have  been  in  temporary  cold  storage 
during  accumulation  or  in  the  process  of  pre-cooling  from  being  subsequently  stored 
at  big  centers  after  transportation  in  refrigerator  cars.  Also  to  prevent  the  transfer 
of  goods  from  one  cold  storage  warehouse  to  another  in  a  different  city  under  proper 
conditions,  while  permitting  goods  not  protected  to  be  handled  under  adverse  condi- 
tions, exposing  them  to  higher  temperature.  It  was  also  suggested  to  prohibit  re- 
storage  of  goods  that  have  been  frozen  and  carried  for  a  period  near  the  point  of 
production  and  prevent  their  being  transferred  under  refrigeration  to  another  freezer 
adjacent  to  the  consumer,  a  process  which  can  be  carried  out  with  entire  safety  and 
the  goods  preserved  in  a  wholesome  condition.  Such  provisions  are  absurd  and  un- 
necessary, and  it  is  important  that  a  complete  study  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case  be 
made  before  such  restrictive  and  destructive  conditions  be  imposed  on  the  industry. 

There  would  be  no  objection  to  a  law  providing  sanitary  and  improved  methods 
of  thawing,  handling,  and  delivery  of  frozen  goods  to  consumers,  based  upon  full 
knowledge  of  all  conditions  and  factors  that  enter  into  the  problem,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  adequately  protecting  the  public  health. 

The  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  in  his  report  for  1911,  gives  the  following  informa- 
tion as  to  average  length  of  time  that  goods  are  carried  in  cold  storage:  The  fresh 
beef  received  into  storage  during  the  year  beginning  with  May,  1909,  was  kept  there 
on  the  average  2.3  months ;  the  fresh  mutton,  an  average  of  4.4  months ;  the  fresh 
pork,  an  average  of  .9  of  one  month;  and  the  butter,  an  average  of  4.4  months. 
The  poultry  received  during  the  year  beginning  with  March.  1909,  was  kept  an 
average  of  2.4  months ;  the  eggs,  an  average  of  5.9  months ;  and  the  fish  were  kept 
an  average  of  6.7  months.  The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  sent  out  blanks  to  all  cold 
storage  warehouse  men  in  the  country  to  arrive  at  definite  information  in  regard  to 
this  matter,  and  the  figures  I  have  quoted  are  the  result  of  that  inquiry. 

The  merchants  who  store  with  us  finance  us  and  we  in  turn  borrow  from  the 
banks.  We  take  the  warehouse  receipt  and  the  insurance  certificate  and  we  endorse 
it  and  take  it  to  the  bank.  That  is  the  customary  way  of  handling  that  operation. 
We  exact  6  per  cent,  interest.  We  have  to  pay,  on  an  average,  from  5  to  6  per  cent, 
ourselves.  We  guarantee  as  well  and  do  the  work  of  handling  the  products  and 
examining  them.  We  really  are  guarantors  of  the  paper.  We  endorse  the  paper 
and  guarantee  it  to  the  bank. 

A  very  large  number  of  the  merchants  finance  their  own  transactions.  They  will 
take  the  negotiable  receipts  and  borrow  directly  from  the  banks,  or  they  will  sell 
their  own  paper.  There  are  some  merchants  whose  rating  is  so  high  that  they  can 
get  all  that  they  require  on  their  own  paper  without  collateral.  They  are,  of  course, 
very  strong  houses  that  have  funds  to  carry  their  stock  without  advances. 

There  are  positively  no  rebates  or  extras  that  would  make  the  rate  more  than 
6  per  cent. 

There  are  certain  banks  that  make  a  business  of  loaning  on  these  warehouse  re- 
ceipts, and  we  have  a  number  of  our  own  banks  that  take  care  of  our  business.  They 
make  a  specialty  of  it.  Such  are  the  Irving  National,  the  Fidelity  Trust  Company, 
the  Aetna  National,  the  Citizens'  Central,  the  Market  and  Fulton,  the  Commercial 
Trust  Company  of  New  Jersey,  the  Hudson  County  National  Bank  of  Jersey  City, 
and  others.  These  loans  from  the  banks  are  all  made  on  the  notes  of  the  shippers 
or  owners,  endorsed  by  them,  and  are  accompanied  by  warehouse  and  insurance 
receipts. 


250 


I  have  a  statement  here  showing  how  much  the  expense  of  storage,  insurance,  and 
interest  adds  to  the  cost  of  goods,  which  is  an  analysis  of  storage  charges  on  food 
products  at  hypothetical  cost  prices  in  New  York  City.  In  that  statement  I  mention 
the  commodity,  the  hypothetical  cost  price  and  then  the  storage  charge  for  six  months, 
then  the  insurance  at  .416  for  six  months  and  then  the  interest  at  6  per  cent,  for  six 
months,  and  the  total  cost  with  storage  charge  expenses  added,  and  then  the  increase 
in  cost  due  to  storage. 


Hypo-  Storage  Insurance  Interest 

thetical  charge  at  .416  at  6%  for 

cost  for  six       for  six  six 

Commodity.           price.  months.  months.  months. 

Butter  25  1b.  .01            .000725  .0075 

Poultry  18  1b.  .01           .000522  .0054 

Eggs  20doz.  .0089         .00059  .006 

Cheese  15  1b.  .006          .000435  .0045 

Dried  fruit  10  1b.  .00333       .00029  .003 

Nuts  in  shell  15  1b.  .0075         .000435  .0045 

Nuts  shelled  30  1b.  .005          .00087  .009 

Green  fruit  50  bbl.  .50           .00725  .075 


Total 
cost  with 
storage 
charge 
expenses 
added. 
.268225 
.195922 
.21549 
. 16095 
. 106623 
.162435 
.31487 
3.0825 


Increase 
in  cost 
due  to 
storage. 

.018 

.016 

.016 

.011 

.007 

.012 

.015 

.582 


N.  N.  storage  charge  on  six  months  basis.  New  York  rates. 

Insurance  charge  on  six  months  basis,  fireproof  warehouse  rates,  .416. 

Interest  charge  on  six  months  basis,  6  per  cent. 

The  percentage  of  increase  in  cost,  covering  storage,  insurance,  and  interest  on  the 
various  products,  is  as  follows: 

Butter  

Poultry  

Eggs  

Cheese  

Dried  fruits . 
Nuts  in  shell 
Nuts  shelled 
Green  fruit. . 


7 . 2  per  cent. 
8.9  "  " 

8  "  " 

7.3  "  " 

7  "  " 

8  "  " 
5  "  " 

23.2  "  " 


The  comparatively  high  charge  for  storing  green  fruit  is  because  it  occupies  so 
much  space.  Four  or  five  tubs  of  butter,  that  is,  $60  or  $75  worth  of  butter,  can  be 
stored  in  the  space  occupied  by  a  barrel  of  apples  worth,  say,  $2.50.  There  is  a 
difference,  too,  in  the  cost  of  carrying  different  products,  due  to  the  necessity  of 
making  one  room  colder  than  another.  Butter  and  poultry  are  carried  at  a  very 
low  temperature,  zero  or  below.  We  call  it  freezing  temperature.  The  other  articles 
on  the  list — eggs,  cheese,  dried  fruits,  green  fruits — take  what  we  call  cold  storage 
temperature,  that  being  20  to  22  degrees  above.  We  get  higher  rates  for  freezing 
service  as  that  is  more  expensive  to  maintain. 

These  computations  are  all  based  on  a  six  months  period,  although  very  few 
remain  in  as  long  as  six  months. 

We  have  no  railroad  connections  in  New  York,  but  our  Beach  Street  warehouse 
and  our  North  Moore  Street  stores  are  directly  opposite  St.  John's  Park  or  face 
the  depot.  Our  warehouses  are  located  in  the  downtown  section  because  the  trade 
is  located  there  which  deals  in  the  articles  we  handle.  We  are  near  the  downtown 
terminals  where  the  goods  arrive. 

We  do  not  find  much  difficulty  in  trucking  products  through  the  streets  because 
of  congestion.  We  find  more  delay  in  outgoing  shipments  than  in  incoming.  Occa- 
sionally there  is  a  block  due  to  temporary  weather  conditions.  Our  customers  bring 
their  own  stuff  in  to  us  in  their  own  trucks. 


251 


Some  of  the  goods  stored  in  New  York  come  in  carload  lots  and  some  in  less. 
Butter  usually  comes  in  less  than  carload  lots,  because  the  creameries  make  up 
SO  and  60-tub  lots.  Poultry  comes  in  less  than  carload  lots  mostly.  Eggs,  in  April 
and  May,  come  in  sometimes  in  carload  lots,  but  most  of  the  time  in  less  than  carload 
lots.    Green  fruits  come  both  ways.    That  is  true  of  New  York. 

In  Jersey  City  we  have  warehouses  that  are  directly  on  the  tracks.  We  have 
very  large  capacity  there.  We  have  three  and  one-half  million  cubic  feet  of  capacity 
there,  with  direct  connections  with  all  roads,  and  our  carload  business  is  stored  in 
Jersey  City  very  largely. 

We  have  terminal  connection  there  with  all  railroads.  It  works  very  well  indeed. 
We  are  directly  on  the  Pennsylvania  line  and  we  are  right  across  the  way  from  their 
freight  yard. 

The  goods  are  delivered  from  Jersey  City  in  lesser  lots  as  needed.  We  have 
our  trucks  there  and  make  the  deliveries  ourselves  from  Jersey  City  to  the  trade  here 
in  New  York.  They  can  truck  themselves  if  they  choose  to.  We  do  it  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  trade  and  to  facilitate  business.  We  thought  at  first  we  would  make 
deliveries  by  the  carload  to  accommodate  the  trade,  but  found  the  trade  liked  the 
goods  delivered  in  smaller  lots  as  they  sold  the  goods.  Our  trucks  come  across  the 
ferries.  We  charge  the  New  York  rates  where  we  make  a  charge.  Where  we  make 
free  deliveries,  the  storage  rate  in  Jersey  City  includes  the  free  delivery.  This  de- 
livery is  to  any  point  in  the  produce  district  below  14th  Street.  The  rates  to  Brook- 
lyn, The  Bronx,  and  Queens  are  more;  we  have  to  charge  according  to  the  service. 

Track  connections  would  be  of  advantage  to  our  New  York  stores  for  the  full 
carloads ;  for  less  than  carloads  it  would  be  difficult  to  work  that.  We  receive  the 
vast  majority  of  our  goods  in  less  than  carload  lots  consigned  to  different  con- 
signees, except  in  Jersey  City.  If  we  had  a  proper  railroad  terminal,  so  that  they 
could  make  a  continuous  passage  instead  of  making  a  stub  end  of  the  tracks,  that 
would  be  very  good. 

Our  warehouses  in  Jersey  City  are  directly  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad.  The 
railroad  connection  is  made  there  by  a  switching  arrangement  between  the  Pennsyl- 
vania and  all  the  other  roads  by  which  they  receive  foreign  cars  over  their  lines  and 
deliver  to  us  at  no  extra  charge.  The  foreign  roads  absorb  the  switching  charge. 
Each  road  has  a  point  of  connection  beyond  Jersey  City  or  Newark,  and  there  is  a 
road  called  the  Jersey  Junction  Road  that  ties  them  in.  They  take  cars  from  the 
other  lines,  but  not  packages.  Our  warehouses  in  New  York  all  require  cartage  to 
effect  transportation  of  goods  from  the  railroad  terminals. 

In  New  York  City  our  investment  is  $1,581,547.91;  in  Jersey  City  it  is  $979,677.16; 
in  Newark  it  is  $116,000.  Our  warehouses  are  open  to  the  trade  generally,  no  matter 
what  the  quantity  of  goods  they  desire  to  store.  We  have  customers  of  all  kinds  in 
different  states.  A  man  may  put  in  5  or  5,000  barrels  of  apples.  Anyone  who  wants 
to  put  in  any  surplus  production  until  the  time  of  scarcity  is  welcome  and  we  are  glad 
to  do  business  with  him. 


PROPER  HANDLING  OF  FOODSTUFFS  FROM  FARM  TO  MARKET 

DR.     MARY    E.  PENNINGTON, 

Bacteriological  Chemist  in  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture,  Located  in  Philadelphia 

I  have  been  in  this  work  since  1905.  In  the  course  of  my  work  I  have  been  from 
the  Pacific  Coast  to  Budapest;  I  travel  from  30,000  to  40,000  miles  a  year — ^between 
half  and  three-quarters  of  the  time— and  visit  the  largest  cities  and  the  smallest 


252 


towns.  I  have  occasion  to  visit  the  markets  of  the  various  cities  incidentally  in  con- 
nection with  the  work  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  and  the  handling  of  perish- 
able products. 

Visiting  the  markets  is  only  incidental  in  the  course  of  our  study  of  marketing. 
The  work  of  the  Department  with  which  I  am  connected  is  the  study  of  the  handling 
of  perishable  products  from  the  source  of  production  all  the  way  to  the  consumer, 
which  deals  first  with  handling  at  the  source  of  production  and  then  with  transport- 
ing, and  then  with  warehousing  if  the  marketing  is  not  immediate,  or,  if  it  is  im- 
mediate, with  the  markets  of  the  towns  and  cities  and  then  with  the  retail  shops 
and  then  with  the  consumers. 

In  the  first  place,  we  have  the  present  condition  of  the  population  of  the  country 
to  consider.  We  have  piled  our  people  up  in  cities  twenty  stories  high  in  great  com- 
munities such  as  have  never  existed  before,  in  this  country  at  least;  and  those  com- 
munities produce  not  one  thing  they  eat.  By  doing  this  we  have  thrust  the  producer 
farther  and  farther  away  from  the  consuming  center.  Twenty-five  years  ago  the 
City  of  New  York  could  import  a  considerable  portion  of  the  foodstuffs  which  it 
used  from  nearby  centers.  At  the  present  time,  as  nearly  as  it  can  be  estimated,  the 
average  haul  to  the  City  of  New  York  of  the  foodstuffs  it  eats  would  consume  four 
days  by  fast  freight.  The  food  material  which  comes  here  comes  from  the  Pacific 
Coast — from  almost  every  quarter  of  the  world  which  produces  anything  edible. 
A  very  large  proportion  are  spoiled  foodstuffs  coming  from  1,000  miles  or  more 
away — poultry,  for  instance,  and  eggs  and  butter,  the  major  supply  of  which  are 
produced  in  the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri  Valleys  and  shipped  from  there  East 
and  West  to  the  Atlantic  and  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Aside  from  the  distance  that  we  must  now  transport  food  products,  we  have 
to  face  also  a  seasonal  production  of  foodstuffs.  By  this  I  mean  that  in  one  season 
we  will  produce  a  certain  commodity  to  a  greater  extent  than  consumption  requires; 
and  in  another  season  we  will  produce  almost  none  of  that  commodity.  Poultry 
and  eggs  again  will  serve  as  a  good  example.  We  have  eggs  produced  between 
March  or  April  and  July  or  September;  we  have  broiling  chickens  produced  in  July, 
August,  and  September;  we  have  roasters  in  September,  October,  and  November, 
and  perhaps  on  into  December.  At  those  seasons  the  supplies  of  those  articles  are 
in  excess  of  the  demand.  During  the  rest  of  the  year  there  is  practically  very  little 
produced.  We  must  then  conserve  that  excess  of  the  season  of  plenty  until  the 
season  of  scarcity  and  use  it.  We  have  done  that  by  canning,  where  heat  has  been 
the  preservative;  we  do  it  by  pickling  or  smoking,  and  we  do  it  by  cold  storage, 
where  cold  is  the  preservative. 

Now,  primarily,  the  success  of  the  handling  of  all  foodstuffs  which  are  perishable 
lies  in  the  way  the  material  is  produced  and  the  way  it  is  treated  all  the  way  from 
the  source  of  production  until  it  reaches  the  consumer.  The  Department  of  Agri- 
culture must  help  the  country  to  save  the  waste,  which  is  something  enormous,  and 
also  to  keep,  so  far  as  possible,  the  quality  at  the  farm  when  the  produce  reaches 
the  consumer.  In  order  to  do  that  we  must  better  the  present  ways  of  handling  all 
the  way  from  the  producer  to  the  consumer.  The  handling  at  the  source  of  pro- 
duction is,  of  course,  fundamental.  It  does  not,  perhaps,  enter  so  prominently  into 
the  municipal  problem,  but  that  is  where  the  work  begins.  The  handling  at  the 
source  of  transportation  is  nearer  your  problem,  but  is  yet  somewhat  outside  of  it. 

Granted  for  argument  that  no  material  is  wasted  by  the  producer  in  his  handling, 
and  that  no  material  is  wasted  by  the  carrier  in  its  handling,  we  still  find  that  there 
is  an  enormous  waste  at  the  market  center.  I  obtained  some  figures  from  the  New 
York  Board  of  Health  of  the  amount  in  pounds  of  foodstuffs  condemned  and  de- 
stroyed by  them  during  the  year  1911.  I  find  that  there  are  in  round  figures  6.500,000 
pounds  of  fruit  and  2,500,000  pounds  of  vegetables  and  73,000  pounds  approximately  of 


253 


eggs  and  351,000  pounds  of  fish  and  nearly  95,000  pounds  of  miscellaneous  articles. 
Without  exception  almost,  I  think  those  foodstuffs  were  destroyed  because  of  decaying. 
The  question  which  interests  the  city  primarily  is,  how  can  that  decay  be  prevented, 
granting  that  the  goods  come  here  in  perfect  condition?  Of  course  they  do  not.  But 
the  handling  at  the  source  of  production  is  growing  better  and  better  and  the  handling 
during  transportation  is  growing  better  and  every  year  sees  advances.  As  we  view 
the  matter  from  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  least  advance  in  the  matter  of 
handling  is  in  the  large  cities. 

Having  got  the  goods  to  the  city,  what  are  we  to  do  in  order  to  get  the  com- 
modity to  the  consumer  in  just  as  good  condition  as  it  reaches  the  market  center  ? 
It  would  seem  to  us  that  the  two  fundamentals  are  expedition  and  refrigeration,  and 
they  must  be  seriously  considered;  and  we  must  have  better  facilities  if  the  work  the 
Department  is  doing  at  the  producing  centers  is  to  bear  its  legitimate  fruits. 

We  find  now  all  over  the  country  that  refrigerator  cars  loaded  with  well  handled 
material  and  brought  in  on  track,  stand  for  varying  lengths  of  time  until  sidings  are 
available  or  until  truckmen  appear.  We  urge  that  all  producers  ship  in  carload  lots 
because,  undoubtedly,  there  is  less  waste  and  better  handling  obtainable  by  carload 
shipments  than  by  less  than  carload  shipments.  That  doctrine  has  resulted  in  the 
combination  of  several  shippers  who  have  not  individually  enough  for  a  car  but  who 
collectively  can  fill  a  car.  They  ship  to  different  consignees.  The  car  is  therefore 
opened  on  the  track  a  number  of  times  and  its  contents  are  removed  by  different 
truckmen.  The  material  is  trucked  for  various  distances  and  the  haul  may  be  from 
fifteen  minutes  to  several  hours,  and  must  be  made  no  matter  what  the  atmospheric 
conditions  may  be.  We  know  that  a  refrigerated  and  perishable  product,  for  its 
better  conservation,  must  be  continued  in  an  even  state  of  refrigeration  until  the 
consumer  gets  it.  We  know,  with  the  ordinary  system  of  marketing  which  prevails 
almost  entirely  throughout  the  country,  that  the  refrigerated  articles,  such  as  poultry, 
eggs,  butter — all  products  which  are  shipped  under  refrigeration — are  subjected  to 
most  damaging  conditions  before  they  reach  another  refrigerated  environment. 

It  would  seem,  to  save  waste,  that  our  refrigerated  cars  should  unload  directly 
into  refrigerated  spaces  and  that  this  trucking  system  should  so  far  as  possible  be 
abolished  and  that  there  should  be  an  abundance  of  refrigerated  space  for  the 
perishable  stuff,  for  the  perishable  products  that  are  coming  into  a  community  to 
feed  that  community.  It  would  seem  also  that  during  the  season  of  plenty,  when 
more  commodities  than  the  consumption  demands  reach  the  market,  there  should 
be  a  reasonable  method  by  which  products  coming  into  a  city  should  be  conserved. 
That  means  a  continuous  chain  of  refrigeration. 

Years  before  the  handling  of  perishable  products  had  been  studied  as  at  present, 
the  arrival  of  produce  at  the  market  center  in  good  condition  depended  largely  on 
speed,  and  all  the  energy  of  the  community  was  turned  in  that  direction.  At  the 
present  time,  with  modern  methods  of  handling  stuff,  with  refrigeration  to  assist, 
the  methods  that  are  used  in  caring  for  foodstuffs  is  more  important  and  speed  is 
not  half  so  important  as  proper  environment.  We  find,  for  instance,  that  we  collect 
eggs  fairly  fresh  from  the  country  in  July  or  August,  when  weather  conditions  are 
the  worst  for  the  keeping  of  the  eggs,  and  w^  chill  those  eggs  immediately  where 
the  packer  has  mechanical  refrigeration  and  we  ship  those  eggs  in  refrigerated  cars, 
we  will  say,  for  a  haul  of  six  or  seven  days.  We  find  those  eggs  reach  the  market 
centers  in  practically  as  good  condition  as  they  left  the  producing  center.  They  are 
then  dumped  from  the  car  onto  the  dock  or  pier  somewhere,  and  stand  out  in  the 
summer  sun  for  hours,  or  are  unloaded  in  some  railroad  shed  and  stand  under  cover, 
which  is  not  so  bad,  but  still  not  good  enough.  The  eggs  sweat.  The  eggshell  be- 
comes wet.  That  egg  will  deteriorate  and  it  will  deteriorate  rapidly.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  we  have  an  unloading  truck  which  discharges  those  eggs  directly  into  a  re- 


254 


frigerated  space,  the  eggs  are  excellent  food  and  a  good  deal  fresher  in  many  in- 
stances than  eggs  produced  100  miles  from  the  consuming  center  and  shipped  with- 
out refrigeration.  Time  in  those  instances  is  not  half  so  important  a  factor  as  the 
factor  of  good  handling. 

We  find  in  poultry  that  if  the  poultry  is  well  handled  at  the  producing  center,  prop- 
erly dressed,  packed,  and  shipped,  and  is  marketed  under  refrigeration,  it  is  still  an 
edible  bird  and  in  good  condition  three  weeks  after  cleaning,  without  being  hard 
frozen.  If  it  is  hard  frozen  directly  after  being  killed  and  dressed,  it  is  a  good  bird 
for  consumption  a  year  after  killing. 

The  waste  of  our  present  system  of  marketing  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  estimate. 
I  can  estimate  it  approximately  on  the  two  commodities  that  I  have  been  using  as 
illustrations,  namely,  poultry  and  eggs.  The  value  of  the  egg  crop  in  the  United 
States  is  approximately  $500,000,000  every  year.  We  have  at  least  $50,000,000  actual 
waste  between  the  producer  and  the  consumer — eggs  which  are  produced  but  which 
are  never  eaten  because  of  decay  or  breakage  or  other  results  of  bad  handling.  The 
value  of  the  poultry  of  the  United  States  is  approximately  $250,000,000,  and  it  is  per- 
fectly safe  to  say  that  10  per  cent,  of  the  poultry  produced  never  reaches  a  con- 
sumer because  of  decay  in  the  various  forms  of  wastage.  The  Department  believes 
that  better  handling  of  perishable  goods  will  save  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States  a  vast  amount  of  foodstuffs  which  is  now  wasted.  In  the  teaching  of  the 
people  who  handle  the  foods  to  handle  them  better,  there  will  necessarily  be  a  rise  in 
the  quality  of  those  foods,  even  of  those  which  are  now  the  very  best.  And  the 
Department  also  believes  that  the  saving  of  that  waste  will  not  only  mean  a  better 
and  more  plentiful  food  supply  for  the  people,  but  it  will  necessarily  have  some 
effect  on  the  price  of  the  food  to  the  people.  It  will  tend  to  lower  the  price.  The 
consumer  and  producer  now  are  undoubtedly  carrying  between  them  the  loss,  which 
is  loss  in  quality  as  well  as  loss  in  weight.  If  we  can  avoid  the  waste,  we  will  avoid 
the  loss.  In  our  marketing  now  there  is  a  lack  of  system  generally  and  absolutely 
inadequate  facilities.  We  have  no  proper  terminal  facilities  for  unloading  the  perish- 
able produce.  We  have  no  proper  facilities  for  holding  that  perishable  produce 
after  removing  it  from  the  refrigerated  cars  until  it  is  finally  taken  to  the  consumer. 
Very  few  of  the  wholesale  men  of  the  markets  are  properly  housed  for  the  best 
handling  of  their  goods.  A  great  many  have  equipped  themselves  with  mechanical 
refrigeration  which  helps  enormously,  but  our  produce  sections  have  not  kept  pace 
with  the  work  which  the  growing  cities  demand  of  them. 

There  should  be  a  direct  connection  between  the  incoming  food  supplies  and 
the  wholesale  dealers,  which  shall  be,  so  far  as  possible,  continuously  refrigerated. 
There  also  should  be  refrigeration  abundantly  and  equably  maintained  throughout 
at  least  the  marketing  by  the  wholesaler,  and  if  possible  the  marketing  by  the  retailer. 
There  are  certain  progressive  retailers  who  have  now  installed  mechanical  Tefrigera- 
tion.  How  we  are  going  to  transport  the  produce  from  the  wholesaler  and  the 
wholesale  markets,  where  it  must  apparently  be  gathered  on  its  arrival  at  the  market 
centers,  to  the  retailers,  is  a  question.  It  has  been  solved  to  a  certain  extent  by  the 
refrigerated  or  insulated  trucks  that  are  used  in  South  America  and  also  abroad. 
They  are  used  in  the  South  American  beef  trade,  and  by  the  receivers  in  England.  It 
would  be  perfectly  logical  to  suppose  that  such  a  series  of  insulated  covered  trucks 
might  be  used  where  the  refrigerated  produce  is  transported  from  one  part  of  the 
city  to  another.  We  feel  that  the  development  of  railroad  terminals  is  the  keynote 
that  applies  largely  to  the  situation.  The  ideal  thing  is  that  there  shall  be  a  union 
terminal  with  refrigerated  warehouse  facilities.  If  you  can  have  water  transporta- 
tion as  part  of  your  union  terminal,  so  much  the  better.  Such  facilities  as  having 
cars  run  directly  into  a  refrigerating  place  are  in  use  by  private  warehouses  in  a 
number  of  places  in  this  country. 


255 


The  difference  between  the  systems  of  dry  and  wet  packing  of  poultry  for  market 
is  this:  The  old  fashion  of  handling  poultry  and  the  way  your  poultry  is  handled 
when  killed,  almost  without  exception,  is  to  kill  the  chicken,  bleed  it,  take  the  feathers 
off  by  dry  picking,  and  then  remove  the  natural  heat  by  immersing  the  bird  in  cold 
water  first  and  then  in  water  and  ice,  and  finally  packing  it  down  into  fine  ice  and 
shipping  it  in  either  by  freight  or  express.  That  system  is  also  used  by  the  smaller 
packers  and  less  progressive  packers,  even  in  the  far  Western  districts.  If  used  in 
the  far  West,  and  the  produce  is  subjected  to  the  usual  kind  of  marketing,  it  means 
almost  three  weeks  before  the  produce  reaches  the  consumer.  During  that  time  the 
water  from  the  melting  ice  is  removing  from  the  carcass  of  the  bird  the  most  de- 
sirable proteids,  both  as  to  flavor  and  nutritive  properties.  It  is  not  only  dissolving 
out  of  the  bird  some  of  its  constituents  which  we  are  desirous  of  keeping,  but  the 
water  is  soaking  in  as  well.  Therefore,  while  the  consumer  is  losing  foodstuff,  he  is 
also  gaining  water  for  which  he  is  paying  chicken  prices.  Ice-packed  poultry,  taking 
20,000  pounds  as  a  uniform  carload,  means  that  we  would  have  an  actual  loss  in 
dollars  and  cents,  estimating  the  flesh  to  be  worth  20  cents  a  pound,  of  about  $450, 
and  you  would  have  something  like  1,400  pounds  of  water  absorbed.  That  system  of 
ice  packing  is  in  vogue  in  the  cities,  and  a  very  large  amount  of  poultry  handled 
with  your  Eastern  and  Western  cities,  too,  is  ice-packed.  It  is  the  method  of  the 
smaller  dealer  who  has  no  adequate  facility  for  handling  the  product  as  he  should. 
It  does  not  preserve  so  well  as  the  dry  packing. 

The  dry-packed  bird  is  killed  and  picked  in  the  same  way,  and  then  the  carcass  is 
put  in  a  room  mechanically  chilled  to  a  temperature  of  from  32  to  38  degrees.  At  the 
end  of  24  hours  the  carcass  is  cooled  through  to  the  temperature  of  the  room.  It  is 
then  packed,  ordinarily,  in  boxes  holding  twelve  birds,  rather  than  large  barrels 
holding  250  pounds  or  more,  and  shipped  in  refrigerated  cars  and  goes  through  to 
the  markets  under  refrigerated  conditions,  so  that  it  finally  reaches  the  market  with- 
out water  ever  touching  it.  The  keeping  is  infinitely  better  and  the  quality  of  the 
bird  positively  improved.  Wherever  you  have  excessive  moisture  there  is  bound  to 
be  excessive  bacterial  growth.  The  ice-packed  bird  is  a  most  excellent  culture  medium. 
The  dry-packed  bird  reduces  the  chances  of  the  organisms  to  a  minimum. 

I  do  not  know  the  amount  of  money  that  New  York  City  loses  each  year  in  these 
various  causes  of  loss.  I  should  like  to  get  those  figures.  I  have  never  found  any 
way  to  get  them 'where  they  seemed  to  be  accurate.  The  nearest  thing  I  have  found 
is  the  record  of  condemnation  of  the  New  York  Board  of  Health.  The  amount  of 
eggs  condemned  in  1911  was  about  72,785  pounds.  Their  value  might  average  25 
cents  a  pound  the  year  round.  There  is  no  process  known  for  producing  eggs  in 
the  off  season  except  in  very  small  quantities  as  compared  with  the  general  food 
supply.  Up  to  the  present  time  such  factors  have  not  succeeded  in  producing  much 
material  except  for  the  very  healthy,  and  hardly  enough  for  them.  For  providing  in 
times  of  plenty  for  the  storage  of  products  to  be  used  in  times  of  scarcity,  the  cold 
storage  warehouse  is  the  means  by  which  we  are  obtaining  the  best  results  at  the 
present  time.   As  to  whether  it  should  be  public  or  private,  I  have  no  opinion. 

The  wholesale  terminal  markets  would  be  under  some  sort  of  municipal  provision 
necessarily.  I  do  not  see  how  you  could  have  the  facilities  which  are  apparently 
necessary  for  the  proper  handling  of  foodstuffs  without  some  provision  by  the 
municipality.  It  might  be  possible,  but  it  does  not  seem  so.  I  do  not  know  of  any 
place  where  municipal  retail  markets  have  been  a  success.  That  has  been  tried 
abroad.  My  information  on  the  subject  is  not  very  extensive.  I  tried  to  look  up 
the  subject  some  time  ago,  but  it  did  not  seem  very  promising. 

Goods  could  be  brought  to  market  by  means  of  refrigerating  cars  when  the  lots 
are  less  than  carload  lots.  The  railroad  takes  less  than  carload  lots  and  so  arranges 
that  the  various  shippers  can  put  their  products  into  the  refrigerating  car  and  then 


256 


the  company  delivers  that  at  the  market  center  in  carload  lots.  Therefore,  the 
terminal  facilities  would  be  of  as  much  advantage  to  the  less  than  carload  shipper 
as  to  the  carload  shipper.  I  think  it  would  be  absolutely  necessary  for  a  proper 
terminal  that  it  should  have  refrigerating  facilities.  I  do  not  see  how  perishable 
products  could  possibly  be  held  or  handled  without  refrigeration,  and  an  abundance 
of  it  Fruit,  for  instance,  should  continue  under  proper  environment  until  finally 
disposed  of,  and  refrigeration  is  an  essential  to  the  environment. 

When  it  comes  to  a  question  of  prices  of  eggs,  for  instance,  there  are  so  many 
factors  that  enter  into  it  it  does  not  seem  possible  to  separate  them.  The  ignorant 
consumer  is  the  chief  cause  of  excessive  prices.  I  should  educate  the  public.  It 
is  just  this  way:  The  consumer  refuses  to  believe  that  he  cannot  get  milk  this 
evening  that  was  milked  this  morning  as  it  was  25  or  50  years  ago;  and  he  will  not 
believe  that  the  eggs  that  come  to  him  were  not  laid  yesterday.  When  he  is  told 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  eggs  laid  inside  of  a  month  at  the  present  time  he 
does  not  believe  it.  He  demands  his  fresh  eggs  when  they  don't  exist.  It  is  im- 
possible for  him  to  get  them.  The  egg  supplies  coming  into  the  City  of  New  York 
are  practically  nothing  at  all  in  proportion  to  your  consumption  of  eggs.  Most  of 
the  eggs  now  in  New  York  were  started  in  April. 

There  is  10  per  cent,  actual  loss  in  the  egg  trade;  the  deterioration  in  quality 
is  in  addition  to  that.  The  fault  lies  all  the  way  from  the  producer  to  the  consumer, 
straight  through.  The  amount  of  deterioration  due  to  bad  handling  at  the  point  of 
production,  in  collecting  the  eggs  from  the  farms,  depends  entirely  on  the  part  of 
the  country.  In  certain  parts  they  have  the  peddler  system,  but  in  other  parts  it  is 
entirely  railroad  delivery,  and  in  other  parts  entirely  farmer  delivery.  The  egg 
trade  varies  everywhere.  In  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  we  have  the  peddler  system. 
In  the  western  country,  Kansas  and  Iowa,  it  is  almost  exclusively  railroad  delivery. 
Deterioration  is  first  caused  by  the  farmer,  because  he  does  not  market  the  eggs 
promptly;  secondly,  the  dealer  is  at  fault  because  he  holds  them  too  long.  When 
they  reach  the  first  concentrator  who  has  a  mechanical  refrigeration  plant  and 
understands  the  handling  of  his  products,  deterioration  almost  stops  when  it  comes 
to  eggs. 

To  prevent  "sweating"  when  the  eggs  are  removed  from  the  refrigerator  cars 
they  should  be  warmed  up  gradually,  so  that,  when  they  finally  come  into  the  outer 
atmosphere,  there  will  not  be  that  abrupt  change  from  a  temperature  of  50  degrees 
to  a  temperature  of  80  degrees  outside,  a  difference  of  30  degrees.  They  should 
be  put  where  there  is  a  good  circulation  of  air  and  not  too  great  a  change  in  tem- 
perature. There  are  a  number  of  warehouses  with  graded  rooms  already  in  existence. 
It  is  a  practice  among  warehouse  men  who  understand  their  business.  If  you 
have  no  refrigerating  space  then  the  best  thing  you  can  do  is  to  dry  them  off  as 
quickly  as  possible.    Fanning  is  very  good. 

I  would  educate  the  public  not  to  ask  for  fresh  eggs  when  they  are  not  obtainable. 
The  public  has  an  idea  that  the  article  that  bears  the  higher  price  is  of  a  higher 
quality,  which  may  or  may  not  be  so.  The  work  of  our  department  naturally  has 
to  do  with  refrigeration.  Our  object  is  to  find,  if  possible,  better  ways  of  doing 
the  work  which  has  to  be  done  than  at  present  exists.  We  make  recommendations 
for  the  benefit  of  refrigeration.  Information  is  given  out  in  the  form  of  circulars 
and  bulletins  which  are  published  from  time  to  time  as  tlie  material  accumulates. 
It  is  entirely  optional  with  the  community  or  industry  whether  it  follows  our  rec- 
ommendations or  utilizes  the  information  given. 

In  1911  there  was  destroyed  by  the  Board  of  Health  8,435,233  pounds  of  fruit 
and  2,567,200  pounds  of  vegetables.  There  is  no  data  given  as  to  whctlier  the  larger 
percentage  of  that  came  in  by  steamship  or  by  railroad.    It  does  not  pretend  to  give 


257 


the  whole  waste  of  New  York;  it  is  only  a  drop  in  the  bucket.  In  1910  the  fruit 
destroyed  was  over  12,000,000  pounds  and  the  vegetables  over  7,000,000.  So  the 
condemnation  by  the  Board  of  Health  was  cut  down  greatly  in  1911.  There 
seems  to  have  been  an  improvement  in  shipping  conditions  generally  from  year  to 
year.  But  the  figures  as  they  still  stand  are  entirely  too  much  for  a  hungry  com- 
munity to  waste.  Some  of  the  waste  is  due  to  the  shipping  of  immature  fruit,  but 
the  larger  part  is  due  to  decay.  A  great  deal  is  due  to  improper  and  insufficient 
terminal  facilities  here,  which  often  compels  railroad  companies  to  hold  cars  out  from 
three  to  ten  days,  so  that  the  product  is  totally  destroyed  before  it  reaches  the  city 
at  all.  A  very  large  proportion  of  it  is  due  to  the  railroads,  that  still  have  much 
to  learn.  But  we  find  that,  where  the  goods  are  loaded  into  refrigerating  cars 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  shippers  and  where  the  shippers  have  handled  their 
property  properly,  unless  there  is  serious  delay  in  transportation,  the  goods  arrive 
in  good  order,  even  such  goods  as  dressed  poultry,  and  that  is  a  difficult  commodity 
to  ship. 

The  pre-cooling  system  for  some  commodities  is  a  decided  success ;  others  are 
still  waiting  to  be  investigated  carefully.  It  has  been  used  for  peaches,  cherries,  and 
raspberries.  With  oranges  it  does  not  make  so  much  difference;  good  handling 
means  more  to  oranges  than  refrigeration,  that  is,  not  breaking  the  orange  even  to 
a  microscopic  extent.    Most  of  the  pre-cooling  is  done  in  the  southwest. 

I  do  not  think  we  can  abolish  the  middleman,  not  by  any  means.  In  the  new 
system  of  markets  I  think  he  will  be  part  of  the  wholesale  market.  He  will  perform 
a  necessary  service  and,  in  so  far,  he  will  be  retained.  There  may  be  some  functions 
that  the  present  middleman  performs  unnecessarily.  With  the  lack  of  definite  in- 
formation that  we  now  have  concerning  markets  as  they  ought  to  be,  I  should 
not  like  to  say  wherein  his  functions  are  unnecessary.  Wherein  they  are  unnecessary, 
as  we  work  out  this  problem,  we  shall  eliminate  him.  I  think  the  establishment  of 
terminal  markets  would  increase  the  number  of  men  employed  and  create  more 
business.  I  think  that  the  additional  business  would  be  sufficient  to  take  up  the 
services  of  all  now  in  business  and  probably  more.  It  would  merely  mean  a  new 
alignment  of  the  entire  industry.  There  would  be  no  danger  of  any  middleman  being 
thrown  out  of  business  by  this  change. 

Good  products  will  increase  consumption.  I  was  told  a  few  days  ago  of  a 
guaranteed  egg  supply  obtained  by  a  certain  hotel  in  Toronto  where,  in  one  year, 
the  consumption  of  eggs  increased  100  per  cent.  People  ate  twice  as  many  eggs 
in  that  hotel,  and,  as  a  result,  there  was  a  very  much  increased  business  in  that 
hotel.  The  eggs  were  always  good  there  and  people  went  there  to  get  them.  That 
is  a  rather  exaggerated  statement  of  a  general  principle.  I  do  not  mean  that  every- 
thing would  be  so  increased.  But  better  handling  would  result  in  lower  prices  and 
increased  supply.  Wherever  we  have  lower  prices  we  have  an  increased  con- 
sumption.  We  pay  an  enormous  amount  now  for  waste,  for  something  we  never  get. 

I  would  recommend  New  York  City  now  to  gather  its  incoming  facilities  into  a 
point  as  nearly  as  possible;  unload  expeditiously  into  refrigerating  quarters;  as 
long  as  the  produce  must  stay  in  that  environment  keep  it  in  the  same  state  of 
refrigeration  and  get  it  out  of  your  refrigerating  centers  to  the  consumers  as 
promptly  as  consistent  with  good  handling.  I  know  of  no  other  way  to  save  waste 
and  lower  prices  than  by  establishing  terminal  markets. 


258 


MARKET  CONDITIONS  IN  THE  BRONX 

George  P.  Zipf, 
Salesman  for  a  Packing  Company 

My  work  covers  the  territory  from  14th  Street  in  Manhattan  to  Mt.  Vernon. 
I  visit  the  retail  grocers  in  that  territory  every  day.  I  have  found  in  the  last  three 
years  that  the  trade  in  fresh  vegetables  which  was  formerly  in  the  hands  of  the 
grocers  is  being  eliminated  from  their  business,  because  the  grocers  will  not  take 
the  long  trip  down  to  the  markets  in  the  lower  part  of  Manhattan  or  to  the  Harlem 
Market  early  in  the  morning.  In  the  past  three  years  there  have  been  more  stands 
opened  outside  of  meat  markets  and  on  public  highways  than  in  any  other  time  in 
the  history  of  The  Bronx.  The  storekeepers  let  out  the  privilege  of  stands  in  front 
and  have  given  up  the  produce  business.  From  Tremont  Avenue  down  the  majority 
of  the  vegetables  in  that  territory  are  handled  in  small  stores.  They  put  in  a  small 
line  of  canned  goods,  but  they  do  not  handle  the  full  line  and,  therefore,  cannot  be 
classed  as  grocerymen.  Most  of  the  retailers  operating  in  The  Bronx  and  Man- 
hattan and  belonging  to  the  Retail  Grocers'  Association  have  given  up  that  line  of 
business  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  getting  stuff  from  the  markets. 

Certain  commission  merchants  come  down  to  New  York  and  buy  and  ship 
their  goods  up  to  Yonkers.  From  there  they  resell  the  goods  in  The  Bronx  down 
as  far  as  Spuyten  Duyvil.  They  also  supply  Mt.  Vernon  and  New  Rochelle.  It 
takes  four  or  five  hours  to  get  the  goods  up  to  Yonkers,  and  it  is  almost  impossible 
for  the  grocer  to  get  them  in  time  for  the  market  of  the  day.  Consequently  the 
vegetables  are  held  over  until  the  next  day  for  sale.  If  we  had  a  market  in  The 
Bronx  where  they  could  buy  a  full  line  of  goods  that  would  obviate  the  difficulty. 
We  should  have  a  large  terminal  market,  a  market  where  the  railroad  cars  could  be 
received  and  the  goods  distributed  to  the  retailers  and  the  commission  merchants  and 
the  direct  receivers. 

I  am  familiar  with  the  trade  as  far  north  as  Poughkeepsie.  That  territory  gets 
its  supplies  from  New  York  mostly.  The  dealers  send  their  buyers  down,  who 
arrive  late  at  night,  between  1.00  and  4.00  a.  m.,  and  buy  their  goods  and  have  them 
shipped  up  by  boat  that  day.  Then  they  ship  east  from  the  river  through  into 
Pawling,  West  Patterson,  etc.  If  a  receiving  station  were  established  in  The  Bronx 
they  could  get  their  stuff  much  more  quickly  and  directly — easier  and  cheaper.  I 
have  heard  men  in  Peekskill  and  the  surrounding  country  speak  of  that.  To  get 
from  that  upper  territory  to  High  Bridge  takes  about  an  hour;  from  High  Bridge 
to  42d  Street  takes  about  20  minutes;  then  from  42d  Street  they  must  take  cars 
down  to  the  markets  where  they  are  going  to  buy.  After  they  do  their  buying 
they  return  to  their  places  of  business  in  time  for  the  next  day's  market.  They 
take  a  chance  on  getting  a  few  hours'  sleep.  One  man  may  purchase  for  two  or 
three,  but  the  great  trouble  is  that  they  cannot  get  their  goods  for  sale  the  same 
day — they  have  to  lie  over  for  24  hours.  I  have  known  of  buyers  from  Greenwich, 
Conn.,  coming  in  in  the  evening  on  the  late  train  and  going  back  on  the  first  one 
out  in  the  morning.  This  is  most  laborious  and  expensive.  There  is  also  great  delay 
in  the  delivery  of  the  goods,  so  that  the  quality  suffers  and  there  is  great  waste. 
Possibly  these  things  could  be  eliminated  if  we  had  a  large  terminal  market  in  The 
Bronx.  A  man  could  get  into  The  Bronx  in  an  hour  or  an  hour  and  ten  minutes 
from  almost  anywhere  within  a  radius  of  SO  miles,  buy  his  goods  there  and  have 
them  reshipped  by  an  express  freight  service  and  be  able  to  offer  them  for  sale 
that  same  day  to  the  general  public.  It  is  conceded  that  where  vegetables  are  held 
over  from  day  to  day  there  is  a  loss  sometimes  running  into  20  per  cent,  and  30 


259 


per  cent.  Lettuce,  corn,  cabbage,  and  other  farm  products — the  longer  they  lie 
in  a  hot  car  the  more  they  depreciate  in  value. 

I  have  heard  it  said  that,  if  there  was  a  general  market  in  The  Bronx,  the 
merchants  of  Mt.  Vernon,  New  Hochelle.  Larchmont  and  Mamaroneck,  Harrison, 
Rye,  Portchester,  Greenwich,  Sound  Beach,  Stamford,  would  only  be  too  glad  to 
come  down  and  patronize  it.  Some  would  come  as  far  up  as  Pleasantville  on  the 
Harlem  Railroad.  I  know  of  one  merchant  who  comes  to  the  Harlem  Market  and 
would  rather  pay  the  additional  charge  he  has  to  pay  there  than  to  go  to  the  down 
town  terminal.  He  does  not  want  to  lose  the  time  and  he  would  rather  pay  the 
little  addition  that  they  charge  in  the  Harlem  Market. 

The  Gansevoort  and  West  Washington  Markets  open  from  one  to  three  a.  m. 
It  takes  a  grocer  in  Tremont  Avenue  two  and  one-half  hours  to  get  down  there. 
He  has  to  get  there  by  five  o'clock  if  he  wants  to  do  any  buying.  If  he  gets  there 
late  the  choice  goods  are  all  sold  and  he  has  to  take  the  leftovers.  The  Bronx  to- 
day is  being  supplied  with  citrus  fruits  and  some  southern  vegetables  in  this  way  by 
small  commission  men — they  will  take  a  load  of  whatever  truck  they  buy  at  the 
terminal  here  in  Manhattan  and  take  that  truck  up  there  for  general  distribution. 
I  have  found,  through  my  own  experience  and  through  inquiries,  that  the  additional 
cost  runs  over  15  per  cent,  above  the  selling  price  down  town.  If  a  box  of  oranges 
is  worth  $2.50  on  the  dock  down  town,  it  would  cost  from  $3.25  to  $3.35  in  The 
Bronx.  I  think  that  extra  cost  could  be  eliminated  by  delivering  directly  in  car-lots 
to  a  terminal  in  The  Bronx.  The  New  York  Connecting  Railway  is  building  a 
bridge  from  Long  Island  to  The  Bronx.    That  will  give  us  a  direct  connection. 

I  have  heard  that  at  present  Boston  is  supplied  with  vegetables  24  hours  earlier 
than  the  borough  of  The  Bronx.  In  other  words,  a  train  load  of  produce  arriving 
at  Jersey  City  at  noon  and  destined  for  Boston  is  transferred  by  floats  to  Mott 
Haven  and  one  of  the  fast  trains  is  there  made  up  and  the  stuff  is  sent  out  to 
Boston  that  afternoon.  During  the  afternoon  the  balance  of  the  goods  are  brought 
over  to  Manhattan  and  offered  for  sale  the  next  morning.  Meanwhile  the  goods 
that  have  gone  through  to  Boston  have  arrived  there.  In  other  words,  the  Manhattan 
and  Boston  markets  open  at  the  same  time  with  the  same  class  of  goods.  Now,  be- 
fore The  Bronx  can  get  its  goods  The  Bronx  buyers  have  to  go  down  town  and 
buy  in  open  market  and  then  cart  the  goods  up  and  they  can  hardly  get  there  in 
time  for  business  that  same  day,  as  most  of  the  vegetables  have  to  be  offered  between 
the  hours  of  9  a.  m.  and  2  p.  m.  for  the  day's  consumption  Consequently,  The 
Bronx  is  usually  24  hours  behind  Boston  in  the  buying  of  these  goods,  which  arrive 
at  the  same  time  in  Jersey  City. 

If  we  had  proper  terminal  facilities  in  The  Bronx  the  New  York  Central  could 
deliver  goods  within  two  hours  after  the  train  arrives  at  Spuyten  Duyvil.  Market 
facilities  up  there  will  assist  the  people  very  much.  The  Bronx  is  growing  very- 
fast:  three  years  ago  I  had  a  little  over  900  grocery  stores  to  serve  and  now  I  have 
over  1,700.  The  sort  of  market  we  should  have  would  be  a  large  place  where  the 
railroads  could  bring  in  their  cars  and  unload  in  such  a  manner  that  trucks  could 
drive  in  and  load  up  for  general  distribution  without  delay.  It  should  be  a  general 
railroad  terminal  for  all  railroads — a  union  terminal.  It  is  impossible  to  overestimate 
the  inconvenience  it  is  to  a  groceryman  to  buy  down  town  when  he  lives  in  The 
Bronx.  I  have  heard  grocerymen  say  that  they  would  not  handle  any  vegetables 
because  they  would  not  get  up  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  go  down  town 
to  the  market  for  anybody,  and  it  does  not  pay  them  to  handle  them  otherwise, 
because  the  overhead  charge  is  too  much.  The  sooner  we  get  these  railroad  terminals 
and  distributing  points  the  better  for  all  concerned.  I  certainly  think  that,  if  the 
grocers  throughout  The  Bronx  had  opportunities  to  get  their  vegetables  directly 
from  a  market  in  The  Bronx  that  would  supply  a  general  line  of  goods,  they  would 


260 


begin  to  handle  vegetables  again.  I  think  that  trade  in  vegetables  has  decreased 
somewhat  in  The  Bronx  in  comparison  with  the  normal  increase  that  it  should 
show  in  the  growth  of  The  Bronx.  The  groceryman  who  does  not  handle  fresh  vege- 
tables naturally  will  talk  canned  goods,  and,  if  he  cannot  sell  a  customer  fresh 
vegetables,  will  try  to  sell  canned  goods.  That  has  a  tendency, to  reduce  the  quantity 
of  fresh  vegetables  sold.  Since  proper  facilities  have  been  provided  in  The  Bronx 
for  the  receiving  of  potatoes  we  can  buy  potatoes  as  cheap  as  anybody  in  New  York 
City,  and  that  is  about  the  only  thing  we  can  buy  as  cheap  or  cheaper.  Those  are 
Maine  potatoes  coming  down  on  the  New  Haven  road.  I  think,  if  the  same  facilities 
were  furnished  for  other  vegetables,  the  price  would  diminish  in  the  same  way. 

MARKET  CONDITIONS  IN  STATEN  ISLAND 
Sidney  A.  Reeve, 
of  Staten  Island 

I  am  a  consulting  engineer,  resident  in  Staten  Island  for  the  past  three  years. 
The  markets  of  Staten  Island  are,  so  far  as  my  knowledge  goes,  all  retail  markets 
scattered  throughout  the  several  villages  of  the  island.  There  .are  no  public  markets. 
To  my  knowledge  there  is  one  commission  dealer  who  deals  in  wholesale  produce. 
The  farm  produce  used  there  comes  from  the  New  York  markets — although  Staten 
Island  grows  large  quantities  of  farm  produce,  it  is  all  brought  to  New  York  and 
then  brought  back  and  sold  at  retail.  Garden  vegetables  are  grown  on  the  island 
and  some  eggs  and  poultry. 

Staten  Island  comprises  about  46  square  miles.  The  population  is  much  dif- 
fused in  villages  more  or  less  separated  from  each  other.  I  should  say  that  less 
than  half  of  the  island  is  devoted  to  farming.  The  produce  is  taken  to  New  York 
in  large  two  and  four-horse  trucks  during  the  night.  It  reaches  the  ferry  from 
eight  to  ten  in  the  evening  and  goes  mostly  to  Gansevoort  Market ;  some  of  it  goes 
as  far  as  Harlem.  The  trucks  stay  in  the  markets  all  night  and  leave  in  the  early 
morning  on  the  return  trip.   All  the  larger  producers  sell  at  wholesale. 

The  garden  produce  used  in  Staten  Island  is  brought  from  the  New  York  markets 
in  the  wagons  of  our  retail  dealers.  .  There  must  be  over  a  score  of  them  at  least, 
each  one  having  his  own  horse  and  wagon.  We  do  not  consider  that  the  market 
facilities  of  Staten  Island  are  at  all  adequate  for  our  needs.  There  are  no  facilities 
except  these  small  retail  stores,  all  drawing  supplies  from  New  York,  with  the 
exception  of  the  small  percentage  which  comes  through  the  local  commission  mer- 
chants.   None  of  the  produce  comes  directly  by  boat. 

The  Baltimore  &  Ohio  is  the  only  railroad  that  has  its  own  terminal  in  Staten 
Island.  The  officials  of  that  road  have  been  desirous  of  developing  the  car-lot 
business  in  bringing  in  produce  to  Staten  Island,  but  there  are  not  proper  terminal 
facilities.  The  road  traverses  the  area  all  the  way  from  Chicago  and  Louisville  east, 
and  has  transfer  facilities  with  all  the  trunk  lines,  so  that  any  garden  produce 
coming  in  carload  lots  from  the  south  and  west  could  be  transferred  at  convenient 
points  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  for  delivery  at  Staten  Island.  This  road  traverses 
one  of  the  most  fertile  districts  in  the  United  States,  where  large  quantities  of 
fruits  and  vegetables  are  produced.  We  get,  also,  car  floats  from  the  New  Haven 
railroad  in  the  Harlem  River  section.  We  have  no  carload  shipments  of  garden 
produce  going  from  Staten  Island  to  my  knowledge. 

I  think  there  should  be  established  a  wholesale  cold  storage  and  general  storage 
terminal  at  St.  George,  with  retail  distributing  centers  at  various  points  in  the 
island.    I  name  St.  George  because  that  is  the  railroad  terminal  and  the  ferry 


261 


terminal,  and,  therefore,  is  the  point  to  or  through  which  all  the  wholesale  produce 
produced  in  or  passing  through  the  island  must  pass.  The  farm  wagons  all  go 
through  to  take  the  ferry  and  the  railroad  cars  which  unload  or  load  come  within 
100  yards  of  the  same  point.  Whatever  Staten  Island  needs  should  stop  there. 
It  is  perfectly  absurd  to  cart  it  all  the  way  over  to  Gansevoort  Market  and  then 
require  our  retail  dealers  to  go  there  and  bring  it  back  again.  That  necessarily 
and  obviously  adds  to  the  cost.    I  think  we  raise  considerably  more  than  we  need. 

I  think  a  good  deal  of  distribution  to  the  ultimate  consumer  could  take  place 
there,  through  counter  sales  or  wagon  delivery  on  telephone  orders.  The  bulk  of 
the  native  population  of  the  island  comes  to  St.  George  twice  each  day,  going  to 
New  York  City  and  returning  and  could  stop  for  purchases  without  loss  of  time  or 
money.  Since  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  terminal  was  built  in  St.  George  that  place  has 
naturally  grown  into  the  center  of  transportation  for  the  island,  and  one  facility  after 
another  has  been  brought  to  that  point.  The  ferry  and  trolley  terminals  are  not 
yet  completed  there,  so  that  the  opportunity  for  the  actual  construction  of  a  market 
terminal  has  never  presented  itself,  but  definite  plans  will  be  presented  within  a  few 
weeks  or  months.  There  is  a  large  yard  there  with  a  wide  space  under  the  new 
trolley  platform  which  has  as  yet  been  designed  for  no  use  whatever  and  is  entirely 
open  to  development.  It  is  about  400  by  250  feet  and  ranges  from  15  feet  in  height 
at  one  end  to  26  feet  at  the  other.  The  property  is  owned  by  the  city  and  is  under 
the  control  of  the  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries.  It  abuts  directly  on  the  freight 
yards  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  and  the  Staten  Island  Rapid  Transit  Road, 
so  that  nothing  but  the  building  of  platforms  and  similar  facilities  will  be  necessary. 
I  think  the  population  of  the  island,  which  is  about  80,000,  warrants  a  wholesale 
market  and  cold  storage  facilities. 

The  location  at  St.  George  is  ideal.  The  space  there  beneath  the  trolley  platform 
could  not  be  improved  upon  for  receiving  important  foods  by  carload  or  boat  load, 
and  Staten  Island  produce  by  wagon  load.  Local  farmers  cannot  afiford  to  sell  in 
less  than  wagon  load  lots,  and  existing  small  retailers  cannot  buy  so  much  at  once. 
Consequently,  each  night  the  ferryboats  are  loaded  with  Staten  Island  farm  wagons 
hauling  produce  to  Manhattan  markets,  and  each  morning  with  the  wagons  of 
Staten  Islanders  going  to  haul  back  fractions  of  these  same  wagon  loads.  The 
farmer  could  get  a  higher,  and  the  retailers  a  lower,  price  if  the  stuff  never  left  the 
island. 

A  trolley  freight  service  to  bring  up  the  products  of  the  island  might  be  of  value, 
but  at  present  most  of  the  trolley  lines  do  not  traverse  the  agricultural  districts  of 
the  island,  but  reach  more  the  residential  districts. 

A  pppular  movement  arose  about  a  year  ago  which  resulted  in  the  formulation 
of  a  plan  for  a  cooperative  organization  to  operate  a  wholesale  and  retail  market 
at  St.  George.  The  plan  included  provision  for  cold  and  general  storage.  To 
"organize  the  method  of  food  supply  into  an  efficient  system  was  the  object,  cutting 
out  middlemen,  unnecessary  handling,  duplication  of  profits,  etc.  The  island  is 
capable  of  producing  all  the  garden  stuff,  poultry  and  eggs,  and  much  of  the  butter 
and  fruit  consumed  by  its  inhabitants.  There  are  now  too  many  dealers  between 
the  farmer  and  the  retailer. 

Cold  storage  is  also  an  essential  of  everyday  food  supply.  Most  people  think  of 
cold  storage  as  used  only  to  keep  meat  from  January  to  July,  or  butter  from  June 
to  March.  They  do  not  realize  that  nearly  all  the  stuff  they  eat  has  been  in  cold 
storage  for  a  few  days  at  least.  Food  cannot  be  shipped  into  a  big  city  by  steamer- 
load,  carload,  or  even  farm  wagon  load  without  it  being  necessary  for  the  receiver 
to  put  part  of  it  immediately  into  cold  storage,  selling  fresh  only  what  he  can 
dispose  of  immediately.  Much  of  our  food  is  bought  and  sold  speculatively  several 
times  while  in  cold  storage,  or  is  shipped  from  warehouse  to  warehouse  repeatedly 


♦ 


262 

as  it  changes  owners.  Each  sale  increases  its  price ;  each  handling  reduces  its  quality. 
The  old-fashioned  open  market,  where  the  producer  sells  to  the  retailer,  is  gone, 
never  to  return. 

It  is  our  wish  and  determination  to  have  a  terminal  market.  If  the  people  are 
not  ready  to  accept  a  cooperative  organization,  we  are  going  to  have  a  commercial 
organization  take  charge.  Representatives  of  big  commercial  organizations  have  been 
there  and  gone  over  the  grounds.  I  am,  however,  going  to  push  this  thing  as  far 
toward  a  cooperative  plan  as  I  can. 

MARKETS  IN  GERMANY 
Mr.  Franz  Marquard 

I  had  occasion  last  summer  to  examine  the  market  conditions  in  Europe  during 
July  and  August.  I  spent  over  two  months  there.  I  found  market  halls  in  Cologne, 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  Breslau,  and  Berlin.  The  latest  market  halls  in  Germany 
are  in  Munich.  They  were  finished  last  March.  The  Hamburg  market  was  not  yet 
finished,  but  was  already  being  used. 

Cologne  I  visited  first,  but  it  was  hardly  worth  visiting.  The  complaints  about 
the  market  hall  were  very  great,  the  main  one  being  that  it  wasn't  near  enough  to 
the  railroad.  It  was  about  300  feet  away  and  produce  had  to  be  carted  over  by  small 
hand  trucks.  The  market  takes  in  about  a  city  block.  It  is  wholesale  and  retail, 
with  auction  sales.  It  is  under  the  control  of  the  city.  They  have  one  market 
building — a  large  hall  with  peak  roof— and  several  open  market  squares  for  wagons. 
Most  of  the  produce  handled  comes  by  railroad.  They  open  at  two  or  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning  and  auction  sales  are  held  early — at  four  o'clock — by  the  city 
auctioneer,  at  which  the  retailers  buy.  The  stuff  is  directly  consigned  by  the  city 
to  the  auctioneer.  The  auction  method  is  the  quickest  way  of  disposing  of  the 
goods.  In  half  an  hour  or  an  hour  everything  is  disposed  of.  After  that,  during  the 
day,  there  were  private  sales.  The  dealers  have  stalls  in  the  market — separate  places 
allotted  to  them  where  they  exhibit  their  goods  and  conduct  sales. 

They  have  cold  storage  in  the  casemates  where  space  is  rented  to  the  stand 
holders  by  the  square  meter.  The  condition  of  the  vegetables  in  the  market  was 
good.    They  were  fresh. 

One  difficulty  about  the  market  was  that  the  surrounding  streets  were  not 
wide  enough.  Although  there  was  a  pretty  large  space  where  they  could  stand,  the 
wagons  of  the  farmers  and  dealers  had  difficulty  in  coming  and  going  in  the 
morning.    The  Cologne  market  is  an  antiquated  market — the  modern  ones  are  better. 

In  Munich  I  found  a  new  market  hall  in  connection  with  a  bonded  warehouse. 
The  market  itself  is  about  a  block  and  a  half  each  way.  The  bonded  warehouse 
is  about  40  by  300  feet.  It  is  the  central  point  for  the  distribution  of  oranges  from 
Italy  and  cheese  from  Holland,  which  come  to  this  warehouse  directly  by  carloads 
and  are  sold  there  in  smaller  quantities  to  wholesalers.  The  method  is  by  private 
sale.  The  wholesalers  pay  $1.10  a  square  foot  for  the  sales  stands  and  14  cents  a 
square  foot  for  cellar  space. 

They  miscalculated  the  size  of  the  market  needed ;  they  had  estimated  how  much 
the  city  was  using  up  to  that  time,  but,  since  the  market  was  opened,  they  have 
found  that  the  farmers  knew  they  would  get  a  good  market  and  a  certain  market  for 
their  produce,  and  they  have  been  sending  so  much  stuff  to  the  market  that  they 
have  not  room  enough  to  handle  it  all,  and,  as  they  have  no  more  space,  they  will 
have  to  build  another  market  hall.  I  think  this  one  was  working  with  a  deficit  the 
first  year,  and  the  manager  told  me  the  one  big  complaint  he  had  to  make  was  that 
the  hall  was  not  built  right.   The  ventilation  was  not  good  and  the  draughts  in  winter 


263 


very  strong.  Consequently  many  farmers  prefer  to  send  in  their  goods  to  the 
auctioneer  rather  than  come  themselves. 

The  market  is  under  city  control.  They  have  the  usual  rules — just  as  in  Cologne — 
very  strong  rules  about  the  visiting  of  the  market  and  about  the  selling.  For  in- 
stance, the  farmers  and  gardeners  coming  there  were  allowed  to  sell  any  quantity, 
while  the  dealers  were  not;  they  were  restricted  to  certain  limits.  For  instance,  they 
have  to  sell  not  less  than  a  barrel  or  a  bag  of  potatoes,  while  the  farmers  themselves 
can  sell  in  any  quantity. 

This  market  is  on  the  railroad  and  it  was  built  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city 
because  there  wasn't  room  enough  within  the  city  itself.  It  is  about  a  55-minute 
car  ride  from  the  center  of  the  city,  and  housewives  go  there  and  buy.  There  is 
only  one  railroad  going  into  it,  but  there  is  a  city  railroad  that  connects. 

Munich  is  a  very  cheap  market,  as  it  is  in  an  agricultural  district.  There  is 
about  as  much  stuff  brought  in  by  wagon  as  by  train,  except  for  the  imported  stuff. 
They  have  very  good  cold  storage  facilities  at  the  market.  There  is  one  street 
running  all  around  the  casemates  down  below,  and  the  upper  story  that  is  even 
with  the  other  streets  is  connected  by  little  bridges,  where  they  cross  over  a  lower 
street,  and  so  the  trucks  can  drive  directly  into  the  casemates  and  deliver  their  goods 
there,  and  inside  they  have  lifts  to  get  the  stuff  to  the  selling  floor.  Each  stall  is 
provided  with  one. 

The  main  point  about  the  market  that  would  be  useful  to  us  is  the  close  railroad 
connection;  and  the  trolley  connection  so  that  the  people  can  go  there  and  buy.  They 
do  not  have  a  retail  section  but  the  wholesale  stores  sell  retail  in  the  corners  and 
the  lesser  places  are  taken  up  by  the  farmers  and  retailers. 

The  best  market  was  in  Hamburg,  the  latest.  They  have  water  connection  and 
railroad  connection.  The  market  hall  itself  is  very  small.  When  it  is  finished  there 
will  be  only  two  small  halls  about  80  by  100  feet  each,  but  they  have  an  open  place, 
an  open  square  with  casemates  below.  It  is  about  four  city  blocks  in  size  and  has 
already  proved  too  small.  They  made  the  same  mistake  as  in  Munich :  they  built 
too  small ;  and  in  Hamburg  they  built  in  the  center  of  the  city.  The  people  along 
the  Elba  are  not  only  farmers  but  shippers  themselves;  they  take  little  sailboats  and 
put  their  stuff  in  and  so  they  come  by  boat  to  market. 

The  market  is  under  the  control  of  the  city.  They  rent  out  space  to  the  stand- 
holders.  They  do  not  know  yet  how  well  it  is  going  to  pay  because  the  market  is 
hardly  opened  yet.  They  will  have  auction  sales  as  soon  as  the  railroad  cars  come 
in.  The  railroad  comes  over  a  bridge  and  runs  along  an  embankment  20  to  25  feet 
high,  and  under  that  embankment  are  casemates.  They  have  built  14  large  halls, 
each  one  of  them  about  55  feet  wide.  In  the  middle  of  these  halls,  going  across,  is 
a  driveway  where  the  elevators  from  the  railroad  cars  come  down.  Each  of  the 
casemates  has  an  elevator  large  enough  to  hold  one-sixth  of  a  railroad  car,  so  they 
have  only  to  go  up  and  down  six  times  to  get  the  stuff  from  a  whole  railroad  car 
into  the  basement. 

They  have  no  delivery  system  because  the  market  is  in  the  center  of  the  city, 
right  where  the  old  town  is.  The  market  is  mostly  retail;  the  wholesalers  will  be 
in  the  halls.  They  will  be  able  to  unload  about  150  cars  a  day  into  the  casemates,  and 
one  of  the  casemates  is  for  auctions  only. 

For  the  general  system  of  retail  distribution  throughout  the  city  they  have  stores, 
just  as  we  have  here — retail  stores,  small  stores,  and,  as  everywhere  where  there 
are  large  cities,  these  stores  were  on  the  increase.  Instead  of  becoming  less  they 
were  becoming  more,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  the  people  in  Frankfort-on-the-Main 
are  going  to  build  their  new  market,  for  which  they  have  already  appropriated  the 
money,  not  in  the  center  of  the  city,  but  on  the  outskirts,  and  they  intend  to  have  it 
so  that  only  the  retailers  come  there  from  the  city  to  get  the  stuff  at  wholesale  and 


264 


bring  it  back  to  the  stores  and  then  sell  it  to  the  neighborhood.  They  claim  that 
thiey  can  make  good  on  that  because  they  will  be  able  to  deliver  so  much  cheaper 
than  at  the  present  time;  the  retailers  will  be  able  to  buy  so  much  cheaper  that  they 
can  sell  also  much  cheaper. 

In  Hamburg  the  question  was  put  to  the  farmers  whether  they  wanted  a  covered 
market  or  an  open  market  and  the  farmers  voted  nearly  unanimously  against  the 
former  for  several  reasons,  chiefly  because  it  would  make  the  stands  a  little  dearer, 
and  they  were  afraid  the  stuff  would  spoil  more  easily.  The  wholesalers  wanted  a 
hall.  In  Hamburg  they  hold  markets  twice  a  day — once  early  in  the  morning  and 
once  in  the  afternoon.  The  afternoon  market  is  more  for  the  housewives.  It  does 
not  seem  to  be  growing  more  difficult  for  them  to  bring  in  goods  by  truck  on  the 
market  wagons  to  these  little  towns  like  Hamburg  or  Munich,  but  in  Berlin  it  is 
certainly  difficult.  Stuff  comes  to  Hamburg  by  boat  down  the  Elba,  which  flows  past 
great  producing  districts,  the  most  fertile  districts  in  Germany.  They  receive  by 
wagon  and  boat  1,300  wagon  loads  a  day.  They  have  no  other  smaller  markets 
in  the  outskirts  of  the  city.  The  storekeepers  drive  up  to  the  central  market  with  their 
wagons  early  in  the  morning. 

All  the  functions  pertaining  to  the  sale  of  food  are  under  one  bureau  of  the 
city  management  I  think  it  is  the  market  police  that  take  care  of  the  food  inspec- 
tion and  clean  the  markets.    They  issue  licenses  and  collect  rents. 

I  think  they  will  open  up  a  very  large  district  in  Germany  by  having  this  auction 
selling.  Then  the  farmers  can  ship  by  rail  directly  to  the  city  of  Hamburg  to  the 
auctioneer,  and  he  will  take  care  of  the  goods.  They  tell  me  the  main  thing  is  for 
them  to  get  as  much  stuff  into  the  market  from  the  farmers  as  possible,  so  as  to 
prohibit  the  wholesalers  from  fixing  their  own  prices.  They  tell  me  in  Frankfort, 
for  instance,  wholesalers  always  try  to  corner  the  market  in  some  way,  as,  for  in- 
stance, by  telling  the  farmers  there  wasn't  any  market  for  potatoes  when  potatoes 
were  very  high.  The  auction  system  brings  in  more  produce.  The  farmers  know 
they  will  get  their  checks  in  a  few  days.  They  receive  them  in  five  days.  They 
charge  a  commission  of  S  per  cent,  for  selling.  The  city  takes  that.  The  auction 
sales  are  conducted  by  city  employees  who  are  paid  by  the  year. 


XV.  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Compiled  by  Charles  C.  Williamson,  Ph.  D.,  Chief  of  the  Division  of  Economics 
and  Sociology,  New  York  Public  Library 

I.  Markets  and  marketing. 

II.  Cost  of  living  and  food  prices. 

III.  Municipal  slaughter  houses  and  the  meat  supply. 

IV.  Cold  storage  of  food  products. 
V.  Transportation  of  food  products. 

VI.   The  Distribution  of  Foodstuffs. 

VII.    Cooperation,  with  special  reference  to  the  production  and  distribution  of  food 
products. 

I.   MARKETS  AND  MARKETING 

Alvord,  Henry  E. 

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Andrews,  Frank. 

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Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  July  and 
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Bell.  Sir  James,  and  James  Paton. 

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Card,  Fred  W. 

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V.  1.    First  report  .  .  .  with  the  report  .  .  .  relating  to  the  history  of  fairs 

and  markets  in  the  United  Kingdom. 

V.  2-4.    Minutes  of  evidence.  England. 

V.  5-6.  Minutes  of  evidence.  Ulster,  Leinster  and  Connaught 
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v.  11.    Final  report  of  the  commissioners. 

V.  12.    Precis  of  minutes  of  evidence  taken  before  the  commissioners  .  .  . 
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owned  by  local  authorities  in  England  and  Wales.  .  .  . 
V.  13.    Pt.  2.    Statistics  relating  to  markets  in  England  and  Wales  owned 
by  persons  other  than  local  authorities. 

V.  13.    Pt.  3.    Statistics  relating  to  markets  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
V.  14.    Reports  as  to  foreign  markets. 


267 


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Jahrgang  16.    Heft  2.   p.  49-116.) 

Hartmann,  Julius. 

Die  Tatigkeit  der  Gemeinde  Wien  auf  dem  Gebiete  der  Approvisionierung. 
(Ztschr.  fiir  Volkswirtschaft,  Sozialpolitik  und  Verwaltung.  Wien,  1909.  8vo. 
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Hennicke,  Reports  on  Public  Markets  in  Germany,  England,  France  and  Italy.  Berlin, 
1881. 

Hill,  George  G. 

Marketing  farm  produce.  Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1897.  27  p.  illus.  8vo. 
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Hn-soN,  J.  Lindsay. 

Scottish  market  customs.  (Notes  and  Queries.  London,  1909.  8vo.  ser.  10, 
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Holmes,  George  K[irby]. 

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Marketing  fruit  and  truck  crops.  College  Park,  Md. :  Agricultural  Experiment 
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Kiely,  p.  M. 

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KUSTER. 

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KUESTER,  HeINRICH. 

Markthallen.  (In:  Prausnitz,  W.  Atlas  und  Lehrbuch  der  Hygiene  mit  be- 
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Lambert,  D.  J. 

Preparing  and  marketing  poultry  products,  and  the  care  of  eggs.  (In:  Bailey, 
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Lange,  Edgar. 

Die  Versorgung  der  grosstadtischen  Bevolkerung  mit  frischen  Nahrungsmitteln 
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wirtschaftswissenschaftliche  Studie.  Leipzig:  Duncker  &  Humblot,  1911.  viii, 
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268 


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Lessons  from  Paris. — IL  The  municipal  council  of  the  French  capital  owns  and  man- 
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LiNDEMANN,  A. 

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LUECKER,  HeINRICH. 

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p.  31-36  Markte,  Markthallen. 

LuEGER,  Encyclopedia  of  Technic,  Vol.  IV,  2d  ed.,  1908. 

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Maltbie,  Milo  Roy. 

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DE  Massy,  R. 

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Miller,  Cyrus  C. 

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MowRY,  Don  E. 

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pal Journal  and  London.    London,  1899.    folio,    v.  8.    p.  457.) 

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The  influence  of  income  on  standards  of  life.  (Amer.  Econ.  Assoc.  Quar.  Papers 
and  Discussions  of  the  21st  annual  meeting.  Princeton,  N.  J.,  1909.  8vo.  ser. 
3.   V.  10.   no.  1.   p.  180-192.) 

Chapin,  Robert  Coit. 

The  standard  of  living  among  workingmen's  families  in  New  York  City.  New 
York:  Charities  Publication  Committee,  1909.  xv.  372  p.  8vo.  (Russell  Sage 
Foundation.) 

Crowell,  John  Franklin. 

Speculation  and  farm  prices.  (In:  Bailey,  L.  H.  Cyclopedia  of  American  Agri- 
culture.   New  York,  1909.    v.  4.    p.  243-245.) 

DtjLAc,  Albert. 

La  formation  des  prix  des  denrees  alimentaires  de  premiere  necessite.  Paris : 
M.  Riviere  et  Cie.,  1911.  2.  p.  1.  158  p.  12vo.  (Bibliotheque  des  sciences 
economiques  &  sociales.) 

FoLDES,  Bela. 

Die  Getreidepreise  im  19.  Jahrhundert.  (Jahrb.  f.  Nationalokonomie  u.  Sta- 
tistik.    ser.  3.    v.  29.   p.  467-518.    Jena,  1905.) 

Jones,  Edward  D. 

The  causes  of  the  increased  cost  of  agricultural  staples  and  the  influence  of  this 
upon  the  recent  evolution  of  other  objects  of  expenditure.  (Michigan  Academy 
of  Science.   Report.  Lansing,  Mich.,  1910.   8vo.  Report  no.  12,  1910.  p.  137-142.) 

Layton,  W.  T. 

Wheat  prices  and  the  world's  production.  (Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  Eng- 
land.   Journal.    London,  1909.    8vo.    v.  70.    p.  99-110.) 

Levasseur,  Emile. 

Enquete  sur  le  prix  des  denrees  alimentaires  depuis  un  quart  de  siecle  dans 

soixante-dix  lycees.  illus.  (Soc.  de  statist,  de  Paris.  Jour.  v.  50.  p.  314-349. 
Paris,  1909.) 

Levasseur,  Emile. 

Le  prix  du  ble  dans  divers  pays  au  xix  siecle.  Institut  internat.  de  statist.  Bull. 
V.  18.   no.  2.   p.  111-118.   LeHaye,  1910. 

Magee,  J.  D. 

Food  prices  and  the  cost  of  living.  (Jour,  of  Polit.  Econ.  Chicago,  1910.  8vo. 
V.  18.    p.  294-308.) 

S,  A.  P. 

Enquete  sur  la  cherte  de  la  vie.  Les  prix  des  denrees  alimentaires  depuis  25  ans. 
(Grande  rev.    Paris,  1909.    8vo.    v.  58.    p.  363-368.) 

Sauerbeck,  Augustus. 

Prices  of  commodities,  1867  to  date.  (Roy.  Statist.  Soc  Jour.  London,  1886 
to  date.   8vo.   v.  49.   p.  581-648.)    (Continued  yearly  to  date.) 


273 


Streightoff,  Frank  Hatch. 

The  standard  of  living  among  the  industrial  people  of  America.  Boston :  Hough- 
ton Mifflin  Company,  1911.  xix.  196  p.  1  1.  8vo.  (Hart,  Schaffner  &  Marx 
prize  essays,    [v.]  8.) 

UNDERHn.L,  Frank  P. 

The  cost  of  adequate  nutrition.  (Yale  Rev.  Nev^  Haven,  1911.  Svo.  v.  1. 
p.  261-273.) 

ZOLLA,  D. 

La  hausse  des  prix  et  le  developpement  de  la  production  agricole.  (Rev.  polit. 
et  parlementaire.    Paris,  1912.   Svo.    tome  71.   p.  77-99.) 


United  States 

Halstead,  Marshal. 

Wages  and  cost  of  living  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  (Monthly 
Consular  Repts.    no.  290.    Nov.,  1904.    p.  44-49.) 

Hanger,  G.  W.  W. 

Cost  of  living  and  retail  prices  in  the  United  States.  14  pi.  (Bull,  of  the  Bureau 
of  Labor,    v.  9.    p.  1129-1164.    Washington,  1904.) 

McCuMBER,  Porter  J. 

Prices  of  farm  products.  (United  States.  Congressional  Record.  Washington, 
1910.   4vo.   v.  45.   p.  1479-1483.) 

Massachusetts.    Cost  of  Living  Commission. 

Report  of  the  commission  .  .  .  May,  1910.  Boston :  Wright  &  Potter  Ptg.  Co., 
1910.    752  p.    12  charts,    clo.    Svo.    (House.    No.  1750.) 

Movement  of  prices,  1840-1899,  from  Sauerbeck's  tables.  London  Economist,  and 
reports  of  U.  S.  Senate  and  the  Department  of  Labor  on  prices.  (Monthly 
Summary  of  Commerce  and  Finance  of  the  U.  S.  ser.  1899-1900.  no.  11.  p.  3129- 
3146.    Washington,  1900.) 

Report  of  British  Board  of  Trade  on  cost  of  living  in  the  principal  industrial  cities 
of  the  United  States.  (U.  S.  Dept.  of  Commerce  and  Labor.  Bureau  of  Labor. 
Bull.   Washington,  1911.   Svo.    1911.   p.  500-570.) 

Retail  prices  of  food,  1890  to  1904.  (Bull.  Bureau  of  Labor.  July,  1905.  p.  148-301. 
Washington,  1905.) 

Retail  prices  of  food,  1890  to  1905.  (Bull.  Bureau  of  Labor.  July,  1906.  p.  171-316. 
Washington,  1906.) 

Retail  prices  of  food,  1890-1907.  (U.  S.  Dept.  Commerce  and  Labor.    Bureau  of 

Labor  Bull.   Washington,  1908.  Svo.   no.  77.    (July,  1908.)    p.  181-332.) 

Taylor,  H.  C. 

The  price  of  farm  products.  Madison:  the  University,  1911.  30  p.  illus.  Svo. 
(Wisconsin  University.    Agricultural  Experiment  Station.    Bulletin  no.  209.) 


274 


United  States.   Agriculture  Department. 

Prices  of  farm  products.  .  .  .  Letter  from  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  trans- 
mitting a  series  of  tables  showing  the  average  price  on  Dec.  1  of  each  year  from 
1900  to  1909,  inclusive,  of  important  crops;  and  the  averages  of  the  monthly 
range  of  prices,  of  important  crops  in  certain  cities  from  1900  to  1909.  [Wash- 
ington: Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.]  9  p.  8vo.  (U.  S.  61st  cong.  2nd  sess.  Sen. 
doc.   V.  46.   no.  498.) 

United  States.   Agriculture  Department 

Prices  of  farm  products    (In:  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture. 
1910.    p.  19-26.) 

United  States.   Agriculture  Department. 

Wages  and  prices  of  commodities.    [Washington :  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.]    14  p. 
8vo.    (U.  S.  61st  cong.   2nd  sess.   Sen.  doc.  no.  601.   v.  46.) 

United  States.    Commerce  and  Labor  Department. 

Increase  in  cost  of  food  and  other  products.  Letter  from  the  Secretary  of 
Commerce  and  Labor,  transmitting  .  .  .  information.  .  .  .  [Washington :  Gov. 
Prtg.  Off.,  1910.]  19  p.  8vo.  (U.  S.  61st  cong.  2nd  sess.  Sen.  doc.  v.  46. 
no.  349.) 

United  States.    Commerce  and  Labor  Department. 

Retail  prices  of  food  in  the  United  States,  1900  to  1907.    Wholesale  prices  of 
commodities  in  the  United  States,  1900  to  1908.    Wages  and  hours  of  labor  in 
manufacturing  industries  in  the  United  States,  1900  to  1907.  .  .  .    Washington:  • 
Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.   34  p.   8vo.    (U.  S.  61st  cong.   2nd  sess.   Sen.  doc.   v.  46. 
no.  436.) 

United  States.    Labor  Bureau. 

Wages  and  prices  of  commodities.  .  .  .  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor, 
giving  the  monthly  prices  of  commodities  from  Jan.,  1909,  to  March,  1910. 
[Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.]  26  p.  8vo.  (U.  S.  61st  cong.  2nd  sess. 
Sen.  doc.    v.  46.   no.  549.) 

United  States.    Navy  Department. 

Prices  of  commodities  in  the  Navy.  .  .  .  Letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
transmitting  a  statement  giving  the  prices  paid  by  vessels  of  the  United  States 
Navy  for  all  kinds  of  subsistence  supplies  purchased  at  foreign  ports  during  the 
calendar  years  1900  to  1909,  inclusive.  [Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.] 
17  p.   8vo.    (U.  S.  61st  cong.   2nd  sess.   Sen.  doc.   v.  46.   no.  488.) 

United  States.   Wages  and  Prices  of  Commodities,  Committee  on. 

Prices  of  food  products.  Comparison  of  prices  ...  in  Detroit,  Mich.,  and 
Windsor,  Ontario,  taken  from  the  advertisement  in  the  Evening  Record,  of 
Windsor,  and  the  Detroit  News  for  Feb.  25,  1910.  [Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off., 
1910.]  1  p.  2  fac-sim.  8vo.  (U.  S.  61st  cong.  2nd  sess.  Sen.  doc.  v.  46. 
no.  437.) 

United  States.   Wages  and  Prices  of  Commodities,  Select  Committee  on. 

Report  .  .  .  pt.  1-2.  Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.  8vo.  (61st  cong.  2nd 
sess.  Senate  Report  912.  pt.  1-2.)  pt.  1,  Lodge  report  on  cost  of  living,  pt.  2, 
Johnston  report  on  cost  of  living. 

United  States.  Wages  and  Prices  of  Commodities,  Select  Committee  on  (Senate). 
Investigation  relative  to  wages  and  prices  of  commodities.  Topical  digest  of 
evidence  submitted  in  hearings  .  .  .  relative  to  wages  and  prices  of  commodities. 
Washington :  Govt.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.  xcv  p.   pap.  8vo. 


275 


United  States.  Wages  and  Prices  of  Commodities,  Select  Committee  to  Investigate. 
Investigation  relative  to  wages  and  prices  of  commodities.  Hearings  held  before 
the  select  committee  of  the  Senate,  relative  to  wages  and  prices  of  commodities. 
Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.  2  v.  in  1.  8vo.  v.  1-2  continuously  paged. 
875  p. 

Wadlin,  Horace  G. 

Graded  prices.  Boston:  Wright  &  Potter,  state  prtrs.,  1901.  viii  p.  (1)  251-792. 
pap.  8vo.  (Mass.  Labor  Statistics  Bureau.)  From  the  31st  annual  report  of 
the  Mass.  Bureau  of  Stats,  of  Labor. 

Wholesale  prices,  1890-1910.  (U.  S.  Dept.  of  Commerce  and  Labor.  Bureau  of 
Labor  Bull.    Washington,  1910-11.   8vo.    1910,  p.  377-582;  1911,  p.  309-499.) 

WnxsoN,  Wallace  Cause. 

.  .  .  Weekly  prices  of  butter  on  the  Elgin  board  of  trade,  from  1880  to  1911,  in- 
clusive, with  monthly  and  yearly  averages.  Butter  and  egg  prices,  New  York, 
Chicago,  Boston,  and  Philadelphia,  with  other  statistical  information.  .  .  .  Comp. 
by  W.  C.  Willson.  .  .  .  Elgin,  111.,  c.  1912. 

Yoakum,  B.  F. 

"The  High  Cost  of  Living."    World's  Work.    Sept,  1912. 

Canada 

Coats,  R[obert]  H[amilton]. 

Wholesale  prices  in  Canada,  1890-1909  (inclusive).  Special  report.  Ottawa: 
Gov.  Prtg.  Bur.,  1910.  xiii,  509  p.,  114  charts,  pap.  8vo.  (Canada  (Dom.) 
Labour  Department.) 

McIlwraith,  Jean  N. 

Household  budgets  abroad.   Canada.    (Cornhill  Maga.   v.  17.   p.  606-821.) 

United  States.    Wages  and  Prices  of  Commodities,  Committee  on. 

Cost  of  living  in  Canada.  .  .  .  Letter  from  the  Consul-General  at  Ottawa,  Can., 
in  response  to  instructions  .  .  .  asking  him  to  forward  such  data  as  he  might  be- 
able  to  obtain  in  regard  to  the  cost  of  living  in  Canada.  [Washington :  Gov.  Prtg. 
Off.,  1910.]   96  p.  8vo.    (U.  S.  61st  cong.   2nd  sess.   Sen.  doc.   v.  46.   no.  409.) 

France 

March,  Lucien. 

Influence  des  variations  des  prix  sur  le  mouvement  des  depenses  menageres  a 
Paris.   3  illus.    Soc.  de  statist,  de  Paris.   Jour.   v.  51.   p.  136-165.    Paris,  1910. 

Levasseur,  Emile. 

Enquete  sur  le  prix  des  denrees  alimentaires  en  France.  1  illus.  (Institut.  de 
France.  Acad.  d.  sci.  mor.  et  polit.  Seances  et  travaux,  n.  s.  v.  72.  p.  161-212. 
Paris,  1909.) 

Great  Britain.    Trade,  Board  of. 

Cost  of  living  in  French  towns.  Report  of  an  enquiry  .  .  .  into  working  class 
rents,  housing,  and  retail  prices,  together  with  rates  of  wages  in  certain  occu- 
pations in  the  principal  industrial  towns  of  France.  London:  Darling  &  Son, 
ltd.,  1909.   liv,  430  p.    pap.  folio. 


276 


Beaurieux,  Noel. 

Les  prix  du  ble  en  France  au  xixe  siecle.  (Histoire  et  statistique.)  Paris: 
E.  Larose,  1909.  2  p.  1,  108  p.,  1  1.  4to.  (Universite  de  Paris.  Faculte  de 
droit.) 

Germany 

Cost  of  living  of  families  of  moderate  income  in  Germ'any  in  1907-08.  (U.  S.  Dept. 
of  Commerce  and  Labor.  Bureau  of  Labor  Bull.  Washington,  1910.  8vo. 
1910,  p.  697-794.) 

Gerlich,  Heinrich. 

Die  Preisbildung  und  Preisentwicklung  fiir  Vieh  und  Fleisch  am  Berliner 
Markte  (fiir  Schweine).  Leipzig:  Duncker  &  Humblot,  1911.  4  p.  1,  (1)  6-159 
(1)  p.,  2  diag.   8vo.    (Verein  fiir  Sozialpolitik.  Schriften.   Bd.  139,  Teil  1.) 

Great  Britain.    Trade,  Board  of. 

Cost  of  living  in  German  towns.  Report  of  an  enquiry  by  the  Board  .  .  .  into 
working  class  rents,  housing,  and  retail  prices,  together  with  the  rates  of  wages 
in  certain  occupations  in  the  principal  industrial  towns  of  the  German  Empire. 
With  an  introductory  memorandum  and  a  comparison  of  conditions:  .  .  .  Lon- 
don: Darling  &  Son,  1908.   Ixi,  548  p.,  1  map.   pap.    foHo.    (Cd.  4032.) 

Gschwendtner,  Karl. 

Die  Entwicklung  der  Miinchener  Fleischpreise  seit  Beginn  des  19.  Jahrhunderts 
und  ihre  Ursachen.   Diessen:  J.  C.  Huber,  1911.    76  p.,  1  diagr.  8vo. 

Prussia.    Statistisches  Bureau. 

Monats.  und  Jahrespreise  wichtiger  Verpflegungsmittel  in  154  preussischen  Bericht- 
sorten  im  Jahre  1909.  Berlin :  Verlag  des  koniglichen  Statistischen  Landesamts, 
1910.    2  p.  1.    XV,  196  p.    half  leath.    folio.    (Preussische  Statistik.    Heft  222.) 

Wirkliche  und  Mittelpreise  der  wichtigsten  Lebensmittel  fiir  Menschen  und  Thiere 
in  den  bedeutendsten  Marktorten  der  preussischen  Monarchic  wahrend  das 
Kalenderjahr,  1869.  (Kon.  preuss.  statist.  Bureaus.  Jahrg.  10,  p.  85-87.)  [Cont. 
to  date,  for  pages  see  index  of  vols.] 

Wygodzinski,  W. 

Zur  Frage  der  Viehpreise.  (Jahrb.  f.  Gesetzgeb.,  Verwaltung  u.  Volkswirtschaft 
im  Deut.  Reich.   Jahrg.  30,  Heft  3,  p.  183-196.    Leipzig,  1906.) 


Great  Britain 

United  States.    Wages  and  Prices  of  Commodities,  Committee  on. 

Labor  conditions  and  cost  of  living.  .  .  .  Report  on  British  labor  conditions  and 
the  cost  of  living  as  found  in  the  wage  scales  secured  from  union  organizations; 
also  a  statement  of  rates  of  wages  and  cost  of  living  in  Nova  Scotia.  [Wash- 
ington: Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.].  7  p.  8vo.  (U.  S.  61st  cong.  2nd  sess.  Sen. 
doc.    v.  46.    no.  465.) 

Tyszka,  Carl  von. 

Die  Bewegung  der  Preise  einiger  wichtiger  Lebensmittel  insonderheit  der  Fleisch- 
preise in  Deutschland  und  im  Auslande,  unter  besonderer  Beriicksichtigung  Eng- 
lands.  (Jahrb.  fiir  Nationalokononiie  und  Statistik.  Jena,  1911.  8vo.  F.  3. 
Bd.  42.   p.  632-665.) 


277 


Mahin,  Frank  W.,  and  Albert  Halstead. 

Meat  prices  in  England.  Nottingham  [and]  Birmingham.  (U.  S.  Manufactures 
Bureau.  Weekly  consular  and  trade  reports.  Washington,  1910.  8vo.  v.  1. 
no.  2.    p.  52-55.) 

Ireland.    Agriculture  and  Technical  Instruction  Department. 

Agricultural  prices.  A  return  showing  ...  (1)  the  annual  average  prices  for 
each  year,  1881-1909;  the  annual  average  prices  for  each  period  comprised  in  the 
period  1881  to  1909  of  5  years,  10  years,  15  years,  20  years,  and  25  years,  and  for 
the  period  of  4  years,  1906  to  1909.  .  .  .  Dublin:  Alexander  Thom  &  Co.,  Ltd., 
1911.    6  p.    folio.    (H.  of  C.    pap.  93.) 

Great  Britain.   Trade  Board. 

Cost  of  living  of  the  working  classes.  Report  of  an  enquiry  .  .  .  into  working 
class  rents,  housing,  and  retail  prices,  together  with  the  standard  rates  of  wages 
prevailing  in  certain  occupations  in  the  principal  industrial  towns  of  the  United 
Kingdom.  .  .  .  London :  Darling  &  Son,  1908.  liii,  616  p.,  2  maps.  pap.  folio. 
(Cd.  3864.) 

Great  Britain.    House  of  Commons. 

Wages  and  prices  of  commodities.  .  .  .  Abstract  from  the  proceedings  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  April  12,  1910,  relative  to  the  "combines  investigation  act." 
[Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.]  45  p.  8vo.  (U.  S.  61st  cong.  2nd  sess. 
Sen.  doc.    v.  46.    no.  537.) 

Other  Countries 

Great  Britain.   Trade  Board. 

Cost  of  living  in  Belgian  towns.  Report  of  an  inquiry  .  .  .  into  working  class 
rents,  housing,  and  retail  prices,  together  with  the  rates  and  wages  in  certain 
occupations  in  the  principal  industrial  towns  of  Belgium.  .  .  .  London:  Darling 
&  Son,  Ltd.,  1910.    xli,  218  p.,  1  map.    pap.  folio. 

Prices  of  wheat,  bread,  etc.,  in  Milan,  Italy,  1801  to  1908.    (U.  S.  Dept.  of  Commerce 
and  Labor.    Bureau  of  Labor  Bull.    Washington,  1910.    8vo.    1910.    p.  599-607.) 

United  States.   Wages  and  Prices  of  Commodities,  Committee  on. 

Wages  and  prices  of  commodities.  Digest  of  recent  statistical  publications  rela- 
tive to  prices  and  wages  and  hours  of  labor  in  Austria,  Belgium,  Bulgaria,  Fin- 
land, France,  Italy,  Norway,  Sweden,  and  the  United  Kingdom.  Washington: 
Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.  135  p.  8vo.  (U.  S.  61st  cong.  2nd  sess.  Sen.  doc. 
v.  46.    no.  631.) 

Zuppinger,  C. 

Mitteilungen  iiber  die  Preise  der  wichtigsten  Lebensmittel  und  anderer  Bedarf- 
sartikel  im  Januar,  1909.  (Ztschr.  f.  schweizer.  Statist.  Bern,  1909.  folio. 
Jahrg.  45.    (1909,  v.  4.)    p.  634-640.) 


III.    MUNICIPAL  SLAUGHTERHOUSES  AND  THE  MEAT  SUPPLY 

Ayling,  R.  Stephen. 

Public  abattoirs;  their  planning,  design,  and  equipment.  London:  E.  &  F.  N. 
Spon,  Ltd.,  1908.   viii,  88  p.,  23  plans,  10  pi.  4to. 


278 


Ayling,  R.  Stephen. 

Public  abattoirs,  illus.  (Royal  Institute  of  British  Architects.  Journal.  Lon- 
don, 1909.   4vo.    Series  3.   v.  16.    p.  189-213.) 

Bericht  iiber  den  stadtischen  Vieh— und  Schlachthof,  iiber  die  stadtische  Fleisch- 
beschau  sowie  iiber  die  Fleischvernichtungs — und  Verwertungsanstalt  bei  Riidnitz. 
(In:  Berlin,  Germany.  Verwaltungsbericht  des  Magistrats  zu  Berlin  fiir.  .  .  . 
1910.   Berlin,  1912.   folio,   no.  41.) 

Brandt,  Paul. 

Die  Fleischversorgung  von  Karlsruhe,  Manheim  und  Ludwigshafen  a.  Rh.  Karls- 
ruhe :  G.  Braun,  1908.  4  p.  1.,  141  p.  8vo.  (Volkswirtschaftl.  Abhd.  d.  Badischen 
Hochschulen.    Bd.  9,  Heft  6.) 

Breslau. 

Schlachthof  und  Viehmarkt  zu  Breslau.  Herausgegeben  vom  Magistrat  der 
Konigl.  Haupt.  und  Residenzstadt  Breslau.  Breslau:  J.  U.  Kern,  1900.  80  p., 
45  plans,    illus.  folio. 

Brooks,  Robert  C. 

A  German  solution  of  the  slaughterhouse  problem.  (Yale  Review.  New  Haven, 
1907.    8vo.    V.  IS.    p.  369-390.) 

DiTTMAR,  Frederick. 

Public  slaughterhouses  (Scotland).  Report  on  the  conditions  prevailing  in 
Scotland  in  respect  of  the  provision  of  public  slaughterhouses  by  local  authorities, 
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IV.   COLD  STORAGE  OF  FOOD  PRODUCTS 

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HoRNE,  Frank  A. 

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Query,  Dr.  L.  C. 

Changes  which  may  be  induced  by  cold  in  the  physical,  chemical,  and  morpho- 
logical composition  of  foodstuffs,  especially  meat,  fish,  milk  and  its  products, 
fruit,  etc.  (In:  International  Congress  of  Refrigeration.  2nd  Vienna,  1910. 
Reports  and  proceedings,  English  edition.    Vienna,  1911.    8vo.    p.  372-380.) 

Rappin  and  Tharreaud. 

Contribution  a  I'etude  de  la  conservation  des  oeufs  par  le  froid.  (Congres  in- 
ternational du  froid.  I.  Rapports  et  communications.  Paris  [1908].  Tome  2. 
4to.    p.  754-764.) 

Reid,  Walter  C. 

Cold  storage  legislation.  (Congres  internationaji  du  froid.  I.  Rapports  et  com- 
munications.   Paris  [1909].    Tome  3.    4to.    p.  829-844.) 

Rogers,  L.  A. 

Manufacture  of  butter  for  storage.  (American  Warehousemen's  Association. 
Proceedings  of  the  twentieth  annual  meeting  held  at  .  .  .  Washington,  D.  C, 
Dec.  7th,  8th,  and  9th,  1910.  .  .  .  [Washington,  1911.]    8vo.    p.  223-230.) 

Ruddick,  J.  A. 

Cold  storage  and  the  cold  storage  act.  Ottawa,  1910.  27  p.  illus.  8vo.  (Canada, 
Dom.,  Dairy  and  Cold  Storage  Commissioner's  Branch.    Bulletin  no.  23.) 

Sudsidies  for  cold  storage  warehouses.    Ottawa,  1907.    12  p.    8vo.    (Canada,  Dom., 
Dairy  and  Cold  Storage  Commissioner's  Branch.    Bulletin  no.  16.) 

SWITZLER,  R.  H. 

Cold  storage  legislation.  State  and  federal.  (Ice  and  Refrigeration.  Chicago, 
1911.    folio.    V.  41.    p.  155-157.) 

Tait,  R.  H. 

Cold  storage  organization  of  warehouses  and  central  markets.    (Congres  inter- 
national du  froid.    I.  Rapports  et  communications.    Paris  [1908].    Tome  2.  4vo. 
■  p.  1029-1033.) 

Taylor,  William  A. 

The  influence  of  refrigeration  on  the  fruit  industry.  5  pi.  (In:  United  States. 
Agriculture  Department.    Yearbook,  1900.    Washington,  1901.    8vo.    p.  561-580.) 

Troubridge  Critchell,  James. 

Imports  of  refrigerated  food  products  of  the  United  Kingdom,  1880-1907.  Prog- 
ress and  statistics.  Congres  international  du  froid.  I.  Rapports  et  communica- 
tions.   Paris  [1909].    Tome  3.    4to.    p.  299-327.) 

United  States.    Chemistry  Bureau. 

Use  of  cold  storage.  Letter  from  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  transmitting  cer- 
tain data  on  cold  storage  and  cold  storage  products,  by  Dr.  H.  W.  Wiley,  Chief  of 
the  Bureau  of  Chemistry.  Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.  23  p.,  2  pi.  8vo. 
(U.  S.  61st  cong.    2nd  sess.    Sen.  doc.  no.  486.    v.  60.) 


286 


United  States.    Manufactures  Committee  (Senate). 

Report  of  committee  and  hearings  held  before  the  Senate  Committee  on  Manu- 
factures relative  to  food  held  in  cold  storage.  Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1911. 
xii-3-340  p.  8vo. 

U.  S.  61st  cong.   3d  sess.    Senate  report  1272. 

VAmos,  Eugen. 

The  meat  problem  and  the  refrigerating  industry.  (In:  International  Congress 
of  Refrigeration.  2nd  Vienna,  1910.  Reports  and  proceedings,  English  edition. 
Vienna,  1911.    Svo.    p.  356-362.) 

Van  Der  Vaart,  S.  S. 

Growth  and  present  status  of  the  refrigerating  industry  in  the  United  States. 

(Congres  international  du  froid.  I.  Rapports  et  communications.  Paris  1.1909]. 
Tome  3.   4to.   p.  330-350.) 

ViRY,  H. 

A  comparison  of  the  respective  values  of  frozen  and  chilled  meats  from  the 
point  of  view  of  general  provisioning  and  more  especially  of  provisioning  of 
the  army  and  large  bodies.  (In:  International  Congress  of  Refrigeration.  2nd 
Vienna,  1910.  Reports  and  proceedings,  English  edition.  Vienna,  1911.  Svo. 
p.  329-338.) 

Wanjenbergh,  L.  van. 

The  application  of  mechanical  refrigeration  to  the  preservation  of  fresh  and 
salt  meat.  (In:  International  Congress  of  Refrigeration.  2nd  Vienna,  1910. 
Reports  and  proceedings,  English  edition.    Vienna,  1911.    Svo.    p.  401-405.) 

Weld,  L[ouis]  D [wight]  H[arvell]. 

Private  freight  cars  and  American  railways.  New  York:  Columbia  University, 
190S.  185  p.  Svo.  (Columbia  Univ.  Studies  in  history,  economics,  and  public 
law.    v.  31,  no.  1.) 

Wiley,  H.  W. 

A  preliminary  study  of  the  effects  of  cold  storage  on  eggs,  quail,  and  chickens. 
Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1908.  117  p.,  13  pi.  Svo.  (United  States.  Chem- 
istry Bureau.   Bull.  no.  115.) 

Zeitschrift  fiir  die  gesamte  Kalte-Industrie.  .  .  .  Unter  Mitwirkung  hervorragender 
Gelehrten  und  Praktiker,  herausgegeben  won  Dr.-Ing.  C.  Heinel.    Miinchen.  4to. 

Zimmermann,  F.  W.  R. 

Die  Kiihllagerung  frischer  Apfel  in  den  Vereinigten  Staaten  von  Nord-Amerika. 
(Landwirtschaftliche  Jahrbucher.    Berlin,  1904.    4to.    v.  33.    p.  917-923.) 


V.   TRANSPORTATION  OF  FOOD  PRODUCTS 

Griffin,  Appleton  Prentiss  Clark. 

A  list  of  books  (with  references  to  periodicals)  relating  to  railroads  in  their 
relation  to  the  government  and  the  public,  with  appendix  list  of  references  on 
the  Northern  Securities  case.  Washington :  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1904.  1  pi.,  vi,  5-72  p. 
4to.    (U.  S.  Library  of  Congress.) 

List  of  Works  on  Railways  and  Agriculture. 

(Bureau  of  Railway  Economics,  Washington,  D.  C.  Railway  economics;  a  col- 
lective catalogue  of  books  in  fourteen  American  libraries.  Chicago  [1912].  4to. 
p.  15-16.) 


287 


New  York  Public  Library. 

List  of  works  in  the  New  York  Public  Library  relating  to  government  control 
of  railroads,  rates  regulation,  etc.  (N.  Y.  Public  Library.  Astor,  Lenox,  and 
Tilden  Foundations.   Bulletin.   New  York,  1906.   Svo.   v.  10.   p.  184-209.) 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science.  "Reducing  the 
Cost  of  Food  Distribution."    Nov.,  1913.  Philadelphia. 

Andrews,  Frank. 

Costs  of  hauling  crops  from  farms  to  shipping  points.  Washington :  Gov.  Prtg. 
OfiF.,  1907.  63  p.  Svo.  (United  States.  Statistics  Bureau,  Agriculture  Dept. 
Bulletin  no.  49.) 

Andrews,  Frank. 

Freight  costs  and  market  values.  (U.  S.  Agriculture  Dept.  Yearbook,  1906i 
Washington,  1907.    p.  371-386.) 

Andrews,  Frank. 

Marketing  grain  and  live  stock  in  the  Pacific  Coast  region.  Washington:  Gov. 
Prtg.  Off.,  1911.  94  p.  Svo.  (U.  S.  Statistics  Bureau,  Agriculture  Dept.  Bulle- 
tin 89.) 

CORBETT,  L.  C. 

Influence  of  transportation  on  agricultural  interests,  as  illustrated  in  the  truck 

crops.    (In :  Bailey,  L.  H.,  Cyclopedia  of  American  Agriculture.    New  York, 

1909.   v.  4.  p.  252-255.) 

Dreiser,  Theodore. 

The  railroad  and  the  people.  A  new  educational  policy  now  operating  in  the 
West.    (Harper's  Magazine.    New  York,  1900.    v.  100.    p.  479-484.) 

Dugit-Chesal. 

Quelques  reflexions  sur  le  transport  des  denrees  alimentaires.  (Revue  de  la 
societe  scientifique  d'hygiene  alimentaire.  .  .  .  Paris,  1908.  Svo.  Tome  5.  p. 
449-456.) 

Freight  charges  in  England  on  agricultural  products.  (U.  S.  Statistics  Division, 
Agriculture  Department.  Miscellaneous  series.  Bull.  no.  12.  Washington,  1896. 
p.  43-53.) 

Freight  charges  for  ocean  transportation  of  the  products  of  agriculture.  Washing- 
ton: Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1896.  42  p.  Svo.  (U.  S.  Statistics  Division,  Agriculture 
Department.    Miscellaneous  series.    Bull.  no.  12.) 

Godfernaux,  Raymond. 

Report  no.  3.  (All  countries  except  the  United  States,  England,  and  the  Col- 
onies.) On  the  question  of  the  conveyance  of  farm  produce  to  stations  on  the 
main  railways.  .  .  .  (International  Railway  Congress.  Bulletin.  Brussels,  1900. 
V.  142.    p.  2537-2568.) 

Johnson,  Emory  R[ichard]  and  G.  G.  Heubner. 

Railroad  traffic  and  rates.  New  York:  D.  Appleton  &  Company,  1911.  2  v. 
Svo.    (Appleton's  Railway  Series.) 

v.  1.  The  freight  service. 

v.  2.  Passenger,  express,  and  mail  service. 

McPherson,  Logan  G[rant]. 

The  farmer,  the  manufacturer,  and  the  railroad.  New  York:  North  American 
Review  Pub.  Co.  [1907].    13  p.  Svo. 

Repr. :  North  American  Review,  Nov.,  1907. 


288 


McPherson,  Logan  G[rant]. 

Railroad  freight  rates  in  relation  to  the  industry  of  the  United  States.  New 
York:  Henry  Holt,  1909.    xi,  441  p.    maps.  8vo. 


VI.   THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  FOODSTUFFS 

McPiKE,  Eugene  F. 

Transportation  of  perishable  freight  in  America.  Present  practice  and  desiderata. 
(In:  International  Congress  of  Refrigeration.  2nd  Vienna,  1910.  Reports  and 
proceedings,  English  edition.    Vienna,  1911.    8vo.    p.  1003-1017.) 

Newcomb,  H.  T. 

Railway  progress  and  agricultural  development.  (Yale  Review.  New  Haven, 
1901.   8vo.   v.  9.   p.  33-57.) 

Newcomb,  H.  T. 

Railway  rates  and  the  cost  of  living.    Washington,  D.  C,  1906.    28  p.  8vo. 
NiLssoN,  Laueitz. 

Railway  refrigeration  cars.  (In:  International  Congress  of  Refrigeration.  2nd 
Vienna,  1910.  Reports  and  proceedings,  English  edition.  Vienna,  1911.  8vo. 
p.  979-995.) 

Question  40.  Conveyance  of  farm  produce  to  stations  on  the  main  railways.  .  .  . 
[Discussions.]  (International  Railway  Congress.  Bulletin.  Brussels,  1902.  v.  16. 
p.  853-871.) 

Stetefeld,  Rich. 

Refrigerated  railway  transportation.  (In:  International  Congress  of  Refrigera- 
tion. 2nd  Vienna,  1910.  Reports  and  proceedings,  English  edition.  Vienna,  1911. 
8vo.    p.  1018-1032.) 

United  States.    Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

Freight  rates  on  commodities  of  life.  Letter  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  .  .  .  transmitting  tables  showing  comparisons  of  rates 
from  and  including  1900  between  various  points.  .  .  .  [Washington:  Gov.  Prtg. 
Off.,  1910.]    18  p.  8vo.    (U.  S.  61.   Cong.  2.  sess.  Sen.  doc.  v.  46.  no  441.) 

United  States.    Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

Freight  rates  on  commodities  of  life.  [Washington :  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.]  18  p. 
8vo.    (U.  S.  61.  cong.  2.  sess.  Sen.  doc.  no.  441.  v.  46.) 

Ward,  Edward  G. 

Milk  transportation:  freight  rates  to  the  largest  fifteen  cities  in  the  United  States. 
Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1903.  60p.  8vo.  (U.  S.  Statistics  Bureau,  Agri- 
culture Department.    Bulletin  no.  25.) 

Ward,  Edward  G.,  and  Edwin  S.  Holmes. 

Rates  of  charge  for  transporting  garden  truck,  with  notes  on  the  growth  of  the 
industry.  Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1901.  86p.  8vo.  (U.  S.  Statistics  Divi- 
sion, Agriculture  Department.    Miscellaneous  series,  Bull.  no.  21.) 

Weld,  L[ouis]  D  [wight]  H[arvell]. 

Private  freight  cars  and  American  railways.  New  York:  Columbia  University, 
1908.  18Sp.  8vo.  (Columbia  Univ.  Studies  in  history,  economics  and  public 
law.    V.  31.    no.  1.) 


289 


Wendrich,  Alfred  de. 

Statistics  of  refrigerated  transportation.  (In:  International  Congress  of  Re- 
frigeration, 2nd  Vienna,  1910.  Reports  and  proceedings,  English  edition.  Vienna, 
1911.    8vo.    p.  937-944.) 


VII.    COOPERATION,  WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  THE  PRODUCTION 
AND  DISTRIBUTION  OF  FOOD  PRODUCTS 

Adams,  Edward  F[rank]. 

The  modern  farmer  in  his  business  relations.  A  study  of  some  of  the  principles 
underlying  the  art  of  profitable  farming  and  marketing,  and  of  the  interests  of 
farmers  as  affected  by  modern  social  and  economic  conditions  and  forces.  With 
a  chapter  by  Mr.  L.  A.  Clinton.  San  Francisco :  N.  J.  Stone  Co.,  1899.  vi,  7-662p. 
8vo. 

p.  202-293.    The  farmer  as  a  cooperator. 

p.  434-529.    The  cooperative  fruit  marketing  societies  of  California. 

Bailey,  L[iberty]  H. 

The  country  life  movement  in  the  United  States.    New  York:  The  Macmillan 
Co.,  1911.   xi,  220p.  12mo. 
p.  149-164.    The  middleman  question. 

Brinkmann,  Theodor. 

Die  danische  Landwirtschaft.  Die  Entwicklung  ihrer  Produktion  seit  dem  Auf- 
treten  der  internationalen  Konkurrenz  und  ihre  Anpassung  an  der  Weltmarkt 
vermittels  genossenschaftlicher  Organisation.  Jena:  G.  Fischer,  1908.  ix,  197p. 
2  diag.  8vo.  (Jena.  Universitat.-Staatswissenschaftliches  Seminar.  Abhandlungen, 
Bd.  61.) 

Canada  (Dom.)  House  of  Commons. 

Report  of  the  special  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  to  whom  was  referred 
bill  No.  2,  an  act  respecting  industrial  and  cooperative  societies.  .  .  .  Ottawa: 
S.  E.  Dawson,  1907.   xii,  204p.    pap.   4to.    (App.  3-1907.) 

Castro,  Luiz  de. 

Les  associations  agricoles  en  Portugal.  [Revue  d'ficonomie  Politique.  Paris, 
1909.   4to.   V.  23.  p.  604-621.) 

Cooperation.  .  .  .  Published  monthly  by  the  Cooperative  Education  Bureau  [of  the 
Right  Relationship  League],    v.  1-date.    Minneapolis,  1909-date.  8vo. 

Cooperation  in  practice.    (Economic  Review.   London,  1898.   8vo.   v.  8.   p.  314-325.) 

Cooperative  marketing  in  fruits.    (In:  Bailey,  L.  H.  Cyclopedia  of  American  agricul- 
ture.   New  York,  1909.    v.  4.  p.  265-267.) 

Coulter,  John  Lee. 

Cooperation  among  farmers,  the  keystone  of  rural  prosperity.     New  York: 

Sturgis  &  Walton  Company,  1911.  3  p.  1.,  v-vii  p.,  2  1.,  3-281p.,  2  pi.  12mo. 
(Young  farmer's  practical  library.) 

Coulter,  John  Lee. 

The  cooperative  farmer,  whose  organization  gives  him  the  best  markets  to  sell 
in  and  saves  him  fifteen  or  twenty  per  cent,  in  buying.  Definite  experience. 
(World's  work.   Garden  City,  N.  Y.,  1911.   8vo.   v.  23.   p.  59-63.) 


200 


Coulter,  John  Lee. 

Cooperation  in  the  marketing  of  agricultural  produce  [with  a  discussion  on 
agricultural  economics.]  (American  Economic  Association.  Publications.  Prince- 
ton, 1909.   V.  3.  p.  258-274.) 

Crissey,  Forkest. 

Cooperation  close  to  the  soil.  (Everybody's  Magazine.  New  York,  1909.  v.  21. 
p.  406-416.) 

Cross,  Ira  B. 

Cooperation  in  California.  (American  Economic  Review.  Princeton,  1911.  8vo. 
V.  1.  p.  535-544.) 

DUFOURMANTELLE,  MauRICE. 

Agricultural  credit.  Translated  from  the  French  by  P.  C.  Biddle.  Philadelphia: 
Allen,  Lane  &  Scott  [cop.  1912.]  1  pi.,  43p.  8vo. 

DuLAc,  Albert. 

Agricultural  cooperation  in  the  United  Kingdom.  (Econ.  Rev.  London,  1902. 
V.  12,  p.  185-198.) 

Eyerly,  E.  K. 

Cooperative  movements  among  farmers.  (Amer.  Acad,  of  Political  and  Social 
Science.    Annals.    Philadelphia,  1912.    8vo.    v.  40,  p.  58-68.) 

Eyerly,  E.  K. 

Successful  cooperation  among  fruit  growers.  (Journal  of  Political  Economy.  Chi- 
cago, 1909.   4to.   v.  17.  p.  92-95.) 

Fay,  C[harles]  R[yle]. 

Cooperation  at  home  and  abroad :  a  description  and  analysis.  London :  P.  S. 
King  &  Son,  1908.   xvi,  403p.  8vo. 

Fay,  C[harles]  R[yle]. 

Small  holdings  and  agricultural  cooperation  in  England.  (Quarterly  Journal  of 
Economics.   Cambridge,  1910.   8vo.  v.  24.  p.  499-514.) 

Finlay,  T.  A. 

Agricultural  cooperation  in  Ireland.  (British  Economic  Association.  Economic 
Journal.    London,  1896.    4to.    v.  6.  p.  204-211.) 

GiDE,  Charles. 

La  cooperation :  conferences  de  propaganda  Paris :  L.  Larose  &  Forcel,  1900.  1 
p.  1.,  vii,  311p.,  2  1.  8vo. 

GOLDSCHMIDT,  CoNRAD. 

Backereigewerbe  und  Konsum-Vereine :  eine  Untersuchung.  Stuttgart:  J.  G. 
Cotta,  1910.  viii,  96p.  8vo.  (Miinchener  volkswirtschaftliche  Studien.  Stuck, 
101.) 

GoRju,  Camille. 

L'evolution  cooperative  en  France.   Partie  2.   Paris:  M.  Riviere,  1911.   1  v.  12mo. 
Partie  2.    Expose  economique  des  methodes  de  concentrations  dans  les  co- 
operatives agricoles  de  production. 

Great  Britain.  Commercial,  labour  and  statistical  department.  Cooperative  societies. 
Board  of  trade  (Labour  department).  Report  on  industrial  and  agricultural  co- 
operative societies  in  the  United  Kingdom,  with  statistical  tables.  London: 
Darling  and  Son,  Ltd.,  1912.   1  v.,  273p.,  3  charts,   pap.  8vo.    (Cd.  6045.) 


291 


Great  Britaix.    Foreign  Office. 

Commercial,  1886,  no.  20.    Report  by  Her  Majesty's  representatives  abroad,  on 
the  system  of  cooperation  in  foreign  countries.    London:  Harrison  and  Sons 
[1886].   1  p.  1.,  139p.  8vo. 
In:  Great  Britain.    Parliament.    Sessional  papers.    1886,  v.  67. 

Great  Britain.    Labour  department. 

Workmen's  cooperative  societies.    Report  on  workmen's  cooperative  societies 
in  the  United  Kingdom,  with  statistical  tables.    London:  Darling  &  Son,  Ltd., 
1901.    xlviii,  252p.  folio.    (Board  of  Trade.)    C.  698. 
In :  Great  Britain.    Parliament.    Sessional  papers.    1901.    v.  74. 

Haggard,  H.  Rider. 

Rural  Denmark  and  its  lessons.  London:  Longmans,  Green  and  Co.,  1911. 
xi,  335p.,  16  pi.  8vo. 

Harwood,  VV.  S. 

Five  hundred  farmers.    (Century.    New  York,  1903.    v.  66.    p.  98-100.) 
Hays,  Willet  M. 

Cooperation  in  agriculture.  [Washington:  Gov.  Prtg.  Off.,  1910.]  lOp.  Svo. 
(U.  S.  61.  cong.  2.  sess.  Sen.  doc.  no.  294.  v.  58.) 

HiBBARD,  B.  H. 

Cooperation  in  the  grain-elevator  business.  (In :  Bailey,  L.  H.  Cyclopedia  of 
American  agriculture.    New  York,  1909.    v.  4.  p.  267-269.) 

History  of  cooperation  in  the  United  States.    Baltimore,  1888.     (Johns  Hopkins 
University  Studies  in  historical  and  political  science,  v.  6.) 

HoLYOAKE,  George  Jacob. 

The  history  of  cooperation  in  England:  its  literature  and  its  advocates.  London: 
Triibner  &  Co.,  1875-79.  12mo. 

v.  1.   The  pioneer  period — 1812-1844. 

V.  2.    The  constructive  period — 1845-1878. 

International  Cooperative  Alliance. 

Bibliographie  cooperative  Internationale.  International  cooperative  bibliography. 
Allgemeine  genossenschaftliche  Bibliographie;  public  par  .  .  .  I'Alliance  co- 
operative Internationale;  the  International  Cooperative  Alliance;  der  Inter- 
nationalen  Genossenschafts-Allianz.  London :  the  Alliance,  1906.  xxiii,  4  1., 
276p.,  3  tab.  4to. 

Jackson,  Edward. 

A  study  in  democracy :  being  an  account  of  the  rise  and  progress  in  industrial  co- 
operation in  Bristol,  Manchester:  Cooperative  Wholesale  Society's  Printing 
Works,  1911.    xvi,  606p.  illus.  12mo. 

Johnson,  Felix  S.  S. 

Canadian  cooperative  fruit  associations.  (U.  S.  Manufactures  Bureau.  Daily 
consular  and  trade  reports.  Washington,  1911.  Svo.  Year  14,  no.  237.  p. 
145-149.) 

King,  Bolton. 

Agricultural  cooperation  in  Italy.  (Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England. 
Journal.    London,  1902.    8vo.    v.  63.  p.  60-75.) 


292 


Levetus,  Mdlle,  a.  S. 

Les  cooperatives  de  Gros  d'Angleterre  et  d'Ecosse  (1897-1909.)  (Rev.  d'econo- 
mie  politique.    Paris,  1911.   8vo.   annee  25,  p.  745-764.) 

LoENiNG,  Edgar. 

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Cooperation  in  the  marketing  of  apples.  Ottawa,  1907.  28p.  8vo.  (Canada,  Donu 
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Montgomery,  H.  de  F. 

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Die  geschichtliche  Entwicklung  des  landwirtschaftlichen  Genossenschaftswesens 
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Cooperation  that  fails.    Saturday  Evening  Post,  Feb.  8,  1913. 

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Agricultural  cooperation  in  Bavaria.  (U.  S.  Manufactures  Bureau.  •  Daily  con- 
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AN  ACT 


To  amend  the  Greater  New  York  Charter,  in  relation  to  the  establishment,  organiza- 
tion, powers  and  duties  of  a  department  of  markets. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  do 
enact  as  follows: 

Section  1.  Section  ninety-six  of  the  Greater  New  York  charter,  as  reenacted  by 
chapter  four  hundred  and  sixty-six  of  the  laws  of  nineteen  hundred  and  one,  is 
hereby  amended  to  read  as  follows : 

96.  Administrative  Departments.  There  shall  be  the  following  administrative 
departments  in  said  city: 

Department  of  finance. 
Law  Department. 
Police  Department. 

Department  of  water  supply,  gas  and  electricity. 

Department  of  street  cleaning. 

Department  of  bridges. 

Department  of  parks. 

Department  of  public  charities. 

Department  of  correction. 

Fire  Department. 

Department  of  docks  and  ferries. 

Department  of  taxes  and  assessments. 

Department  of  education. 

Department  of  Markets. 

Department  of  health. 

Tenement  house  department. 

Section  2.  The  Greater  New  York  charter,  as  reenacted  by  chapter  four  hundred 
and  sixty-six  of  the  laws  of  nineteen  hundred  and  one,  is  hereby  amended  by  insert- 
ing therein,  after  section  one  hundred  and  ten,  a  new  section  to  be  section  one  hun- 
dred and  ten-a,  to  read  as  follows: 

110-a.  Department  of  Markets.  The  head  of  the  department  of  markets  shall 
be  called  the  market  board ;  such  board  shall  consist  of  five  members,  who  shall  be 
known  as  market  commissioners. 

Section  3.  The  Greater  New  York  Charter,  as  reenacted  by  chapter  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six  of  the  laws  of  nineteen  hundred  and  one,  is  hereby  amended  by 
adding  thereto  a  new  chapter,  to  be  chapter  18-a  thereof,  to  read  as  follows : 

CHAPTER  XVIII-a. 

Department  of  Markets. 

Title  1.    Organization  of  department,  officers  and  employees. 
2.    Powers  and  duties  of  department. 


296 


TITLE  1. 

Organization  of  Department,  Officers  and  Employees. 

Section  1163.  Market  board;  appointment,  removal  and  salaries  of  members. 

1163a.  Seal. 

1163b.  Offices. 

1164.  Rules  and  regulations. 

1164a.  Subordinate  officers  and  employees. 

1164b.  Transfer  from  other  departments. 

1165.  Expenses  of  department. 

1163.  Market  Board,  Appointment,  Removal  and  Salaries  of  Members.  The 
head  of  the  department  of  markets  shall  be  called  the  market  board;  said  board  shall 
consist  of  five  members,  who  shall  be  known  as  market  commissioners.  The  mayor 
shall  appoint  one  of  such  commissioners  for  each  borough  of  the  City,  who  shall 
hold  his  office  as  provided  in  chapter  four  of  this  act.  Each  market  commissioner 
shall  be  a  resident  of  the  borough  for  which  he  was  appointed  at  the  time  of  his 
appointment,  and  he  shall  remain  a  resident  thereof  throughout  his  term  of  office. 
One  of  said  commissioners  shall  be  the  president  of  the  board,  and  shall  be  so  desig- 
nated by  the  mayor.  The  salaries  of  the  president  and  the  other  members  of  the 
board  shall  be  fixed  by  the  board  of  aldermen  upon  the  recommendation  of  the 
board  of  estimate  and  apportionment.  The  mayor  shall  not  appoint  the  president 
or  any  other  member  of  the  market  board  until  the  salary  of  such  president  or  mem- 
ber shall  have  been  fixed  as  herein  provided.  Within  ten  days  after  the  appointment 
and  qualification  of  its  president  and  other  members,  the  market  board  shall  hold  its 
first  meeting  and  organize  the  department  of  markets. 

1163-a.  Seal.  The  market  board  may  adopt  a  seal  for  the  department  of  mar- 
kets, the  form  and  design  of  which  shall  be  that  of  the  common  seal  of  the  City  with 
the  name  of  the  department  thereon.  The  board  may  cause  the  seal  to  be  used  in 
the  authentication  of  the  orders  and  proceedings  of  the  department  and  for  such  other 
purposes  as  the  board  may  prescribe.  The  courts  shall  take  judicial  notice  of  such 
seal,  and  of  the  signature  of  the  president  of  the  board  and  of  any  market  commis- 
sioner. 

1163-  b.  Offices.  The  principal  office  of  the  department  of  markets  shall  be  in 
the  borough  of  Manhattan,  and  the  market  board  shall  establish  and  maintain  offices 
in  each  of  the  other  boroughs  wherein  the  business  and  duties  of  the  department  shall 
be  performed  and  discharged  under  its  rules,  regulations  and  control. 

1164.  Rules  and  Regulations.  The  market  board  may  establish  and  enforce  rules 
and  regulations,  not  inconsistent  with  the  law,  for  the  government  of  the  department 
of  each  branch  thereof,  and  of  the  commissioners  and  all  other  officers  and  employees 
of  the  department. 

1164-  a.  Subordinate  Officers  and  Employees.  The  Market  Board  shall  have  the 
power  to  appoint  a  secretary  and  such  subordinate  officers  as  may  be  necessary  for  the 
proper  conduct  of  the  offices  of  the  department.  Each  commissioner  shall  have  power 
to  appoint  and  remove,  subject  to  the  requirements  of  the  Civil  Service  Law  and  the 
rules  and  regulations  of  the  municipal  civil  service  commissions  and  the  market  board, 
such  market  masters,  market  inspectors  and  other  subordinate  officers,  assistants  and 
employees  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  efficient  performance  of  his  duties  as  such 
commissioner,  and  every  such  market  master,  market  inspector,  officer,  assistant  and 
employee  shall  be  subject  to  the  supervision  and  control  of  the  commissioner  in  his 
borough  and  shall  perform  such  duties  as  are  assigned  to  him  by  the  commissioner 
of  the  market  board.  Any  employee  of  the  department  may  be  punished  by  the  mar- 
ket board  for  neglect  of  duty,  for  omission  to  properly  perform  his  duty,  for  viola- 


297 


tion  of,  or  neglect  or  disobedience  of  orders,  or  incapacity,  or  for  absence  without 
leave,  by  forfeiting  and  withholding  pay  for  a  specified  time,  or  by  suspension  from 
duty  with  or  without  pay.  This  section  shall  not  be  deemed  to  abridge  the  right  of 
the  board  or  of  a  commissioner  to  remove  any  market  master,  market  inspector  or 
other  subordinate  in  his  borough,  as  provided  in  section  fifteen  hundred  and  forty- 
three  of  this  act. 

1164-b.  Transfers  from  Other  Departments.  Upon  the  organization  of  the 
department  of  markets  all  employees  of  every  class  and  grade  attached  to  the  office 
of  the  president  of  each  borough  of  the  City,  who,  on  the  date  of  the  organization 
of  the  department  of  markets  as  provided  in  the  preceding  section,  are  employed  in 
or  about  the  construction,  repair,  cleaning  and  maintenance  of  public  markets,  shall 
then  become  employees  of  like  classes  and  grades  of  the  department  of  markets,  and, 
as  such,  shall  thereafter  continue,  subject  to  the  provisions  of  section  1164-a  of  this 
chapter,  to  perform  the  duties  theretofore  performed  by  them  under  the  supervision 
of  the  borough  presidents.  The  collector  of  city  revenue  and  superintendent  of  mar- 
kets shall,  on  the  date  of  the  organization  of  the  department  of  markets  as  pro- 
vided in  the  preceding  section,  become  superintendent  of  markets,  under  the  su- 
pervision of  the  market  board,  subject  to  the  provisions  of  section  1164-a  of 
this  chapter.  All  other  employees  of  every  class  and  grade  of  the  bureau  of  city 
revenue  and  of  markets,  of  the  department  of  finance,  who,  on  the  date  of  the 
organization  of  the  department  of  markets  as  provided  in  the  preceding  section,  are 
employed  in  and  about  the  administration  of  the  public  market  system  of  the  City,  or 
any  part  thereof,  shall  become  employees  of  like  class  and  grade  of  the  department  of 
markets  and  shall  continue,  subject  to  the  provisions  of  section  1164-a  of  this  chapter, 
to  perform  the  duties  theretofore  performed  by  them  under  the  supervision  of  the 
comptroller  and  of  the  collector  of  city  revenue  and  superintendent  of  markets. 
All  employees  of  the  City  who  shall  be  transferred  to  the  department  of  markets,  pur- 
suant to  the  provisions  of  this  section,  shall  continue  subject  to  the  provisions  of  sec- 
tion 1164-a  of  this  chapter,  upon  the  pay  rolls  of  the  departments,  bureaus  or  offices 
from  which  they  shall  have  been  transferred  to  the  department  of  markets,  without 
loss  or  reduction  of  compensation,  until  provision  is  made  for  the  payment  of  their 
compensation  as  officers  or  employees  of  the  department  of  markets  by  the  board  of 
aldermen  and  the  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment 

1165.  Expenses  of  Department.  The  market  board  may,  subject  to  other  pro- 
visions of  this  act,  make  such  incidental  and  additional  expenditures  as  the  purposes 
and  provisions  of  this  chapter  may  require.  In  order  to  provide  means  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  expenses  of  the  department  of  markets  for  the  remainder  of  the  year 
nineteen  hundred  and  fourteen,  including  the  rental  of  offices  for  the  use  of  the  de- 
partment and  the  cost  of  their  equipment,  repair  and  maintenance,  and  means  for  the 
payment  of  the  salaries  of  the  members  of  the  market  board  and  the  compensation 
of  the  secretary,  the  market  masters,  market  inspectors  and  other  necessary  officers, 
employees  and  subordinates  of  the  department  during  that  period,  except  those  for 
whom  other  provision  is  made  in  the  preceding  section  of  this  title,  the  comptroller 
of  the  City  of  New  York,  upon  the  authorization  of  the  board  of  estimate  and  appor- 
tionment, shall  issue  and  sell  revenue  bonds  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  the  proceeds  of  which,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary^ 
shall  be  applied  to  the  expenses  of  the  department  of  markets,  as  herein  provided. 

TITLE  2. 
Powers  and  Duties  of  Department. 
Section  1166.  Definitions. 

1166a.   Jurisdiction  of  the  department. 

1166b.   General  powers  and  duties  of  market  board. 


298 


1166c.  Selection  of  sites  for  new  markets. 

1166d.  Wholesale  terminal  markets. 

1166e.  Market  facilities ;  lease  of  market  property. 

1166f.  Railroad  spurs  to  markets. 

1166g.  Traffic  regulations. 

1166h.  Standards,  grades  and  labels.  . 

11661.  Certificates  as  to  consignments. 

1166j.  Delays  in  transportation. 

1166k.  Market  auctions;  auctioneers'  licenses. 

11661.  Consignments  to  auctioneers. 

1166m.  Information  bureau. 

1166n.  Wallabout  market. 

II660.  Market  licenses;  existing,  continued. 

1166p.  Licensed  venders;  street  markets. 

1166q.  Market  ordinances  continued,  subject  to  change  of  jurisdiction. 

1166.  Definitions.  Unless  otherwise  expressly  stated,  whenever  used  in  this 
article,  the  following  terms  shall  respectively  be  deemed  to  mean: 

1.  "Market,"  any  building,  structure  or  place,  the  property  of  the  City  of 
New  York  or  under  lease  to  or  in  the  possession  of  the  City  used  or  in- 
tended to  be  used,  or  any  part  of  any  street,  avenue,  parkway,  plaza,  square 
or  other  public  place  assigned  or  set  apart  by  law  or  ordinance  or  other 
competent  authority  to  be  used  as  a  public  market  for  the  buying,  selling  or 
keeping  for  sale  of  meat,  fish  or  vegetables  for  human  food  or  of  flowers 
and  ornamental  plants; 

2.  "Private  market,"  any  store,  cellar,  stand  or  place  (not  being  part  of 
a  public  market)  used  for  the  buying,  selling  or  keeping  for  sale  of  meat, 
fish  or  vegetables  for  human  food; 

3.  "Meat,"  every  part  of  any  land  animal  and  eggs  (whether  mixed  or 
not  with  any  other  substance)  ; 

4.  "Fish,"  every  part  of  any  animal  that  lives  in  water,  or  the  flesh  of 
which  is  not  meat; 

5.  "Vegetable,"  every  article  of  human  food,  which  (not  being  meat, 
fish  or  milk)  is  held  or  offered  or  intended  for  sale  or  consumption  as  food 
for  human  beings. 

All  fish,  meat  and  vegetables  found  at  any  place  in  the  City  shall  be 
deemed  to  be  therein  and  held  for  sale  or  consumption  as  food  for  human 
beings,  unless  the  contrary  shall  be  distinctly  proved. 

1166a.  Jurisdiction  of  Department.  The  department  of  markets  when  organized 
as  provided  by  this  act  shall  have  charge  and  control  of  all  markets,  as  defined  in  this 
title. 

1166b.  General  Powers  and  Duties  of  the  Market  Board.  The  market  board 
upon  the  appointment  and  qualification  of  its  members  shall  have  charge  and  control 
of  the 

1.  Repair,  cleaning  and  maintenance  of  all  markets; 

2.  Administration  and  management  of  all  markets  and  the  supervision 
and  regulation  of  all  business  conducted  therein ; 

3.  Collection  of  all  rentals  or  other  revenues  for  the  use  of  stands,  stalls 
or  other  spaces  in  markets  by  dealers  or  venders; 

4.  Construction  and  equipment  of  new  markets,  when  authorized  by  the 
board  of  aldermen  and  the  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment. 


299 


1166c.  Selection  of  Sites  for  New  Markets.  The  market  board  is  employed, 
with  the  approval  of  the  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment,  to  select,  in  the  name 
and  on  behalf  of  the  City  of  New  York,  any  lands  above  or  under  water  for  markets 
and  market  facilities  and  to  acquire  title  thereto,  either  in  fee  or  to  an  easement 
appertaining  thereto,  as  may  be  determined  by  the  board  of  estimate  and  apportion- 
ment; provided,  that  the  proceeding  for  acquiring  title  to  any  property  so  selected,  or 
any  interest  therein,  shall  be  taken  and  conducted  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  chap- 
ter twenty-one  of  this  act. 

1166d.  Wholesale  Terminal  Markets.  The  market  board,  within  six  months 
after  the  date  of  the  organization  of  the  department  of  markets,  shall  report  to  the 
board  of  estimate  and  apportionment  detailed  plans  and  specifications  for  the  estab- 
lishment and  organization  of  wholesale  terminal  markets,  not  less  than  one  for  each 
borough  of  the  City,  which  shall  be  accompanied  by  certificate  of  selections  of  sites 
therefor,  under  the  hand  and  seal  of  the  market  board,  and  appropriate  maps  ac- 
curately showing  the  location  and  transportation  facilities  of  each  such  site. 

1166e.  Market  Facilities  ;  Lease  of  Market  Property.  The  market  board  shall 
have  power  to  construct,  operate  and  maintain  all  necessary  facilities  for  the  con- 
venient transaction  of  business  in  wholesale  markets  or  to  make  contracts  for  the 
construction,  operation  or  maintenance  of  such  facilities,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of 
all  dealers,  venders  or  patrons  of  the  markets,  by  private  individuals,  partnerships  or 
corporations;  subject,  however,  to  the  approval  of  any  such  contract,  amounting  to  a 
franchise,  by  the  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment  or  other  proper  city  authority. 
The  market  board,  with  the  approval  of  the  board  of  sinking  fund  commissioners, 
shall  have  the  power  to  lease  any  market  property,  other  than  buildings  or  parts  of 
buildings  in  actual  use  as  markets  on  the  date  when  this  act  shall  take  eflfect,  for  the 
construction,  use  and  maintenance  of  buildings  or  structures  as  receiving  stations  or 
storage  plants  for  food  supplies  or  other  market  purposes ;  provided  that  every  such 
lease  shall  be  made  at  the  highest  market  price  or  rental,  at  public  auction  or  by 
sealed  bids  and  always  after  public  advertisement  for  a  period  of  at  least  fifteen 
days,  in  the  City  Record,  and  after  appraisal  under  the  direction  of  the  board  of 
sinking  fund  commissioners,  made  within  three  months  of  the  date  of  such  lease, 
and,  provided  further,  that  no  such  lease  shall  run  for  a  term  longer  than  ten  years 
nor  a  renewal  for  a  longer  period  than  ten  years.  Each  such  lease  shall  contain 
covenants  that  any  market  dealer  or  vender,  or  the  owner  or  proprietor  of  any  pri- 
vate market,  shall  be  entitled  to  rent  space  in  any  such  receiving  station,  or  to  store 
meat,  fish  or  vegetables  in  any  such  storage  plant  at  reasonable  rates,  the  schedule  of 
which  shall  be  subject  to  the  control  of  the  market  board,  and  shall  be  conspicu- 
ously posted  at  all  times  in  every  receiving  station  or  storage  plant  established  or 
maintained  under  the  provisions  of  this  section. 

1166f.  Railroad  Spurs  to  Markets.  The  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment, 
with  the  approval  of  the  mayor,  is  hereby  empowered  to  grant  and  issue  a  permit  to 
any  railroad  corporation  operating  in  the  City  of  New  York,  to  construct,  operate 
and  maintain  a  single-track  railroad  spur  from  its  main  line  tracks  to  and  into  any 
market  or  market  property  of  the  City  for  the  purpose  of  transporting  freight  cars 
or  express  cars  containing  meat,  fish,  vegetables,  fruit  or  dairy  products,  to  such  mar- 
ket and  to  remove  empty  cars  therefrom;  but  no  such  permit  shall  be  granted  or 
issued  permitting  the  occupation  or  use  of  any  street  or  streets  by  any  such  railroad 
spur  for  a  greater  distance  than  three  hundred  feet,  nor  for  a  longer  period  than 
three  years  from  the  time  of  granting  thereof.  Each  such  permit  shall  provide  that 
the  same  may  be  cancelled,  annulled  and  revoked  upon  three  months'  notice  in  writing 
by  the  mayor  to  the  railroad  corporation  constructing,  operating  and  maintaining 
such  spur,  and  that,  thereupon,  the  right  of  such  corporation  in  and  upon  the  street 
or  streets  occupied  by  the  spur  shall  cease  and  determine  and  the  said  track  shall  be 


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forthwith  removed  therefrom  by  said  corporation,  which  shall  restore  the  pavement, 
roadway  and  sidewalk  of  such  street  or  streets  to  a  usable  and  safe  condition,  at  its 
own  expense  and  without  delay.  In  case  any  railroad  corporation  shall  refuse  or 
fail  to  discontinue  and  cease  using  any  such  railroad  spur,  and  shall  refuse  or  fail 
to  remove  the  rails,  ties  and  other  appurtenances  of  such  spur  from  any  street  or 
streets,  within  ten  days  after  the  right  of  such  corporation  to  maintain  and  use  the 
said  spur  shall  have  ceased  and  determined  by  written  notice  of  the  mayor,  or  other- 
wise, the  president  of  the  borough  in  which  such  railroad  spur  is  located  shall  forth- 
with tear  up  and  remove  the  rails,  ties  and  other  appurtenances  of  such  spur  and 
restore  the  pavement,  roadway  and  sidewalk  of  the  street  or  streets  previously  occu- 
pied by  it  to  a  usable  and  safe  condition,  and  the  expense  of  such  removal  of  the 
spur,  and  the  restoration  of  the  pavement,  roadway  and  sidewalks  occupied  by  it, 
shall  be  recoverable  by  the  City  from  the  said  railroad  corporation  by  an  action  at 
law. 

1166-g.  Traffic  Regulations.  The  market  board  shall  make  such  necessary  rules 
and  regulations  regulating  traffic  in  and  about  terminal  and  other  markets  as  it  may 
deem  necessary. 

1166-h.   Standards,  Grades  and  Labels.   The  market  board  shall  have  power  to 

establish  standards  and  grades  for  different  classes  of  food  supplies  and  to  grant  and 
issue  permits  to  use  labels  or  symbols  of  such  standards  and  grades  to  all  producers 
and  shippers  who  conform  to  standards  and  grades  established  by  the  board. 

1161-i.  Certificates  as  to  Consignments.  The  consignor  or  consignee  of  any 
meat,  fish  or  vegetables  consigned  to  any  market  after  the  organization  of  the  depart- 
ment of  markets  shall  be  entitled  to  have  the  same  examined  by  a  market  inspector 
when  it  shall  have  been  received  at  any  market.  The  inspector  shall  immediately 
report  a  detailed  description  in  writing  of  the  consignment  and  the  condition  thereof 
at  the  time  of  his  examination  to  the  market  master  or  person  in  charge  of  the 
market  at  which  the  same  was  received,  and  shall  issue  a  certificate  to  the  consignee 
thereof  as  to  the  condition  of  the  consignment  when  received  at  the  market,  and 
a  duplicate  of  such  certificate  shall  be  sent  without  delay  to  the  consignor.  Any  such 
certificate  shall  be  competent  evidence  in  any  court  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

1166-j.  Delays  in  Transportation.  Upon  receiving  complaints  or  information 
from  any  shipper  that  meat,  fish  or  vegetables,  consigned  to  a  market,  auctioneer  or 
merchant  in  the  City  of  New  York  for  sale,  have  been  delayed  in  transit  by  any 
common  carrier,  the  market  board  shall  at  once  institute  an  investigation  as  to  the 
cause  of  such  delay,  and  willful  or  unnecessary  delays  shall  be  made  the  subject 
of  a  special  investigation  and  prosecution.  The  market  board  is  empowered  to  direct 
the  immediate  sale  of  consignments  made  in  its  care  when  such  action  is  necessary  to 
prevent  the  loss  thereof.  The  board  shall  investigate  complaints  respecting  matters 
within  its  jurisdiction  and  shall  make  such  original  investigations  as  may  be  deemed 
necessary  concerning  the  existence  of  combinations  in  restraint  of  trade  or  other  vio- 
lations of  law,  and  shall  take  due  steps  to  have  such  violations  prosecuted. 

1166-k.  Market  Auctions;  Auctioneers'  Licenses.  The  market  board  shall 
have  power  to  grant  licenses  to  any  person  engaged  in  the  business  of  auctioneer  of 
meat,  fish  or  vegetables  at  a  market  as  defined  by  section  1166  of  this  act,  or  desiring 
to  be  so  engaged,  on  the  payment  by  such  person  of  a  license  fee  of  $100  per  annum, 
and  filing  a  bond,  to  be  approved  by  the  board,  with  two  good  sureties  in  the  penal 
sum  of  $5,000.  No  auctioneer  licensed  under  the  provisions  of  this  section  shall  be 
personally  interested,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the  sale  of  meat,  fish  or  vegetables, 
except  as  auctioneer  and  to  the  extent  of  his  legal  fees  and  charges  as  such.  The 
market  board  on  complaint  of  any  person  having  been  defrauded  by  any  such  auc- 
tioneer, or  by  his  clerk,  agent  or  assignee,  is  authorized  and  directed  to  take  testimony 
under  oath  relating  thereto,  and  if  the  charge  shall  be  sustained,  in  the  opinion  of  the 


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board,  it  shall  revoke  the  licenses  granted  such  auctioneer  and  direct  that  his  bond 
be  forfeited.  No  person,  persons,  corporation,  partnership  or  association  shall  here- 
after carry  on  the  business  of  auctioneer  of  any  meat,  fish  or  vegetables  at  a  market 
as  defined  by  section  1166  of  this  act  in  the  City  of  New  York  without  having  first 
obtained  from  the  market  board  a  license  authorizing  such  person,  persons,  corpora- 
tion, partnership  or  association  to  carry  on  such  business,  and  no  person,  persons, 
corporation,  partnership  or  association  whose  license  shall  have  been  revoked  for 
cause  shall  be  licensed  to  carry  on  the  business  of  auctioneer.  Any  person,  persons, 
corporation,  partnership  or  association  who  shall  sell  or  offer  for  sale  any  meat, 
fish  or  vegetable  at  vendue  or  auction  at  a  market  as  defined  by  section  1166  of  this 
act,  without  having  first  obtained  from  the  market  board  a  license  authorizing  such 
person,  persons,  corporation,  partnership  or  association  to  carry  on  the  business  of 
auctioneer  of  meat,  fish  or  vegetables,  shall  be  guilty  of  a -misdemeanor  and  upon  con- 
viction thereof  shall  be  imprisoned  for  not  more  than  six  months  or  by  a  fine  not 
exceeding  $500,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprisonment. 

1166-1.  Consignments  to  Auctioneers.  Meat,  fish  or  vegetables  may  be  con- 
signed directly  to  auctioneers  licensed  by  the  market  board  for  sale  at  venue  or 
auction,  and  shall  after  receipt  be  so  sold  as  soon  as  possible,  but  the  City  of  New 
York  shall  not  be  liable  for  loss  or  injury  of  any  such  consignment  or  part  thereof. 
The  market  board  shall  provide  space  and  accommodation  for  the  care  of  all  such 
consignments  to  any  person,  persons,  corporation,  partnership  or  association  doing 
business  at  a  market  as  defined  in  section  1166  of  this  act,  and  book  entries  of  the 
receipt  and  sale  thereof  shall  be  made  by  the  auctioneer  showing  the  name  of  the 
consignor,  the  name  and  address  of  each  purchaser  or  purchasers  of  any  part  thereof, 
and  the  amount  or  amounts  received  therefor.  The  auctioneer  shall  deduct  all  proper 
charges  against  such  consignment  and  his  commission  as  fixed  by  the  schedule  estab- 
lished by  rule  and  regulation  of  the  market  board,  and  he  shall  thereupon  transmit 
the  balance  of  the  proceeds  of  such  sale  or  sales  to  the  consignor,  but  nothing  herein 
contained  shall  confer  on  said  market  board  the  right  to  fix  the  charges  or  commis- 
sions of  any  person,  persons,  corporation,  partnership  or  association  doing  business 
at  a  private  market. 

1166-m.  Information  Bureau.  The  market  board  shall  organize  and  maintain 
a  free  bureau  of  information,  for  the  use  and  convenience  of  producers  and  con- 
sumers and  for  general  information,  as  to  the  supply  of  and  price  for  meat,  fish  and 
vegetables,  with  lists  of  reputable  shippers  and  buyers,  commission  merchants  and 
auctioneers,  and  such  information  tending  to  facilitate  and  cheapen  food  distribution 
in  the  City  of  New  York  as  the  board  shall  deem  it  expedient  to  disseminate. 

1166-n.  Wallabout  Market.  The  portion  of  Wallabout  Market  commonly 
known  as  farmers'  square  shall  be  kept  for  the  exclusive  use  of  farmers  and  market 
gardeners.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  market  department  the  market  board  shall 
have  and  be  vested  with  all  the  powers  exercised  by  the  commissioner  of  city 
works  of  the  former  city  of  Brooklyn,  and  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  lease 
any  portion  of  said  market  lands  and  renew  existing  leases  on  such  terms  and 
at  such  rentals  as  may  be  agreed  upon  between  the  board  and  the  lessees  or 
holders,  subject  to  the  following  provisions  as  to  the  rate  of  rent:  In  case 
the  amount  of  rent  for  any  renewal  term  of  any  lease  be  not  agreed  upon  as  afore- 
said by  the  first  day  of  January  preceding  the  expiration  of  the  previous  term,  the 
same  shall,  if  either  the  market  board  or  the  lessee  or  holder  shall  so  elect,  be  fixed 
as  now  provided  by  law  except  that  the  rent  may  be  reduced  in  the  discretion  of  the 
market  board.  The  rents  for  such  renewal  terms,  whether  agreed  upon  as  above 
provided,  or  fixed  as  now  provided  by  law,  shall  not  be  less  than  an  amount  equal  "  to 
two-thirds  of  the  rent  of  the  preceding  term,  nor  exceed  an  amount  equal  to  the  rent 
of  the  preceding  term  and  one-third  thereof  in  addition  thereto.    The  market  board 


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may  at  any  time,  with  the  consent  of  the  lessee  or  holder,  vary  or  modify  any  of  the 
provisions  of  any  lease  of  such  lands.  The  board  may  also  adjust  and  settle  any 
claims  and  controversies  in  regard  to  rent  or  any  matters  that  appertain  to  any  lease, 
both  those  which  have  heretofore  arisen  and  any  which  may  hereafter  arise,  during 
either  the  original  term,  or  any  renewal  or  extension  thereof,  as  in  its  opinion  justice 
may  require.  Nothing  herein  contained  shall  interfere  with  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
department  of  docks  and  ferries  of  the  City  of  New  York  over  the  piers,  bulkheads 
and  water  front  in  and  around  said  Wallabout  market  lands,  nor  with  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  president  of  the  borough  of  Brooklyn  over  said  Wallabout  market  lands,  so 
far  as  concerns  his  power  over  highways.  On  and  after  the  thirtieth  day  of  April, 
nineteen  hundred  and  four,  distilled  and  rectified  spirits,  wine  and  fermented  and  malt 
liquors  shall  not  be  sold  or  offered  for  sale  in  Wallabout  market  lands ;  and  all  leases 
of  any  portion  of  such  lands,  granted  under  the  provisions  of  this  section,  shall  con- 
tain a  provision  restricting  and  prohibiting  the  sale  or  offering  for  sale  of  any  such 
spirits,  wine  and  fermented  and  malt  liquors  on  any  lands  leased  thereby,  and  on  and 
after  the  passage  of  this  act  the  state  commissioner  of  excise  shall  not  issue  or  re- 
new any  certificate  permitting  or  authorizing  the  sale  of  distilled  or  rectified  spirits, 
wine  and  fermented  and  malt  liquors  within  the  limits  of  said  Wallabout  market 
lands  or  in  any  portion  thereof. 

1166-0.  Market  Licenses;  Existing,  Continued.  Upon  the  organization  of  the 
department  of  markets  the  market  board  shall  have  sole  charge  and  control  of  every 
public  market  place  and  of  the  wagons  engaged  in  the  business  of  vending  and 
selling  farm  and  garden  produce  therein  and  elsewhere  in  the  City,  with  full  power 
to  make  suitable  regulations  concerning  fees,  the  hours  during  which  said  business 
shall  be  conducted  and  the  general  management  of  the  same.  Subsequent  to  the 
organization  of  the  department  of  markets  any  farmer,  market  gardener  or  other 
person  desiring  to  vend  or  sell  meat,  fish  or  vegetables  in  any  market  shall  present 
to  the  market  board  an  application  stating  his  name,  occupation  and  a  general  descrip- 
tion of  the  commodities  which  he  desires  to  sell  in  such  market,  with  the  request  that 
a  license  be  issued  to  him  for  that  purpose.  On  filing  such  application  and  paying  the 
fee  fixed  by  the  market  board,  the  board  may  issue  to  the  applicant  a  license  to  use 
such  space  in  such  market,  for  a  period  to  be  designated  in  the  permit,  and  not  to 
exceed  one  year.  Each  market  license  shall  be  numbered  and  registered  in  the  depart- 
ment of  markets,  and  the  market  board  shall  issue  to  each  licensee  a  metallic  tag  or 
plate  with  the  number  of  the  license  thereon  in  such  form  and  design  as  the  board 
may  prescribe.  No  unlicensed  person  shall  be  permitted  to  vend  or  sell  meat,  fish, 
vegetables  or  any  other  commodity,  in  any  market,  and  each  licensee  while  vending 
or  selling  in  any  market  shall  at  all  times  cause  his  license  tag  or  plate  to  be  con- 
spicuously displayed. 

All  licenses  heretofore  issued  by  the  comptroller  or  by  the  collector  of  city  revenue 
and  the  superintendent  of  markets,  and  in  full  force  and  effect  on  the  date  when  this 
act  shall  take  effect,  shall  be  continued  to  the  end  of  the  term  for  which  they  were 
respectively  issued,  subject  to  the  power  of  the  market  board  to  revoke  or  renew  the 
same. 

1166-p.  Licensed  Venders  ;  Street  Markets.  Upon  the  organization  of  the 
department  of  markets  the  market  board  shall  have  charge  and  control  of  the 
vending  and  selling  of  meat,  fish,  vegetables,  fruit,  plants  or  flowers  upon  the  streets, 
or  in  other  public  places,  by  farmers,  market  gardeners,  peddlers  and  pushcart 
dealers,  each  of  whom  shall  obtain  from  the  market  board  upon  the  organization  of 
the  department  of  markets  a  license  to  vend  and  sell  said  commodities  before  en- 
gaging in  such  business  in  any  street  or  public  place,  which  license  shall  be  numbered 
and  registered  in  the  department  of  markets.  The  market  board  shall  issue  to  each 
licensed  vender  a  metallic  tag  or  plate  with  the  number  of  the  license  thereon,  in  such 


303 


form  and  design  as  the  board  may  prescribe,  which  tag  or  plate  the  licensee  shall  at 
all  times  conspicuously  display  when  vending  or  selling  upon  any  street  or  in  any 
public  place.  The  market  board  shall  from  time  to  time  recommend  to  the  board  of 
estimate  and  apportionment  such  open  spaces  in  the  City  as  may  be  advantageously 
set  apart  as  markets  for  farmers,  market  gardeners,  peddlers,  and  pushcart  dealers, 
and,  thereupon,  the  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment  shall  have  power  to  desig- 
nate and  set  apart  such  places,  or  any  of  them,  as  markets  for  the  use  of  farmers, 
market  gardeners,  peddlers  and  pushcart  dealers,  subject  to  such  conditions  and 
limitations  as  it  may  prescribe. 

1166-q.  Market  Ordinances  Continued,  Subject  to  Change  of  Jurisdiction. 
All  provisions  of  the  Code  of  Ordinances  of  the  City  of  New  York  relating  to  public 
markets  of  the  City  and  to  carts,  wagons  or  other  vehicles  in  which  any  garden  prod- 
uce or  other  thing  shall  be  brought  to  market  are  hereby  continued,  subject  to  the 
power  and  authority  of  the  board  of  aldermen  to  add  to,  alter  or  otherwise  amend 
or  to  repeal  the  same;  provided,  that  all  powers  and  duties  conferred  or  imposed 
upon  the  comptroller  or  the  collector  of  city  revenue  and  the  superintendent  of  mar- 
kets, respecting  public  markets  or  market  carts,  wagons  or  other  vehicles,  by  any 
existing  provision  of  the  Code  of  Ordinances,  shall,  from  and  after  the  date  of  the 
organization  of  the  department  of  markets,  be  exercised  and  performed  by  the  market 
board,  or  the  market  master,  market  inspectors  or  such  other  employees  of  the 
department  of  markets  as  the  rules  and  regulations  thereof  may  prescribe. 

Section  4.  Section  thirty-four  of  the  Greater  New  York  Charter,  as  reenacted 
by  chapter  four  hundred  and  sixty-six  of  the  laws  of  nineteen  hundred  and  one  and 
amended  by  chapter  five  hundred  and  fifty-three  of  the  laws  of  nineteen  hundred  and 
ten,  is  hereby  amended  to  read  as  follows : 

"34.  Licenses  to  Auctioneers.  Subsequent  to  the  organization  of  the  department 
of  markets  as  provided  in  this  act  the  city  clerk  shall  have  authority  to  grant 
licenses  to  any  person  engaged  in  and  carrying  on  the  business  and  occupation  of 
auctioneer,  except  auctioneers  of  meat,  fish  and  vegetables  as  such  commodities  are 
defined  in  Ii66  of  this  act,  carrying  on  their  business  at  a  market  as  defined  by  section 
1166  of  this  act,  or  desiring  to  be  so  engaged,  on  payment  of  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
dollars  per  annum,  on  such  person  filing  a  bond,  approved  by  him,  with  two  good 
sureties  in  the  penal  sum  of  two  thousand  dollars.  The  president  of  the  board  of 
aldermen  on  complaint  of  any  person  having  been  defrauded  by  any  auctioneer 
except  auctioneers  of  meat,  fish  and  vegetables  as  such  commodities  are  defined  in 
section  Ii66  of  this  act,  carrying  on  their  business  at  a  market  as  defined  by  section 
1166  of  this  act,  or  by  the  clerk,  agent  or  assignee  of  such  auctioneer,  doing  business 
in  said  City,  is  authorized  and  directed  to  take  testimony  under  oath  relating  thereto; 
and  if  the  charge  shall,  in  his  opinion,  be  sustained,  he  shall  revoke  the  license  granted 
to  such  auctioneer,  and  direct  his  bond  to  be  forfeited.  No  person,  persons,  corpora- 
tion or  association  shall  hereafter  carry  on  the  business  of  auctioneer,  except  auc- 
tioneers of  meat,  fish  and  vegetables  as  such  commodities  are  defined  in  section  ii66 
of  this  act,  carrying  on  their  business  at  a  market  as  defined  by  section  1166  of 
this  act,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  without  having  first  obtained  from  the  city  clerk 
a  license  authorizing  such  person,  persons,  corporation  or  association  to  carry  on  the 
business  of  auctioneer;  and  no  person,  corporation  or  association  whose  license  has 
been  revoked  for  cause  shall  again  be  licensed  to  carry  on  the  business  of  auctioneer. 
Any  person  or  persons,  corporation,  partnership  or  association  who  shall  offer  for 
sale,  or  sell  goods  of  any  description,  wares,  merchandise,  real  or  personal  property, 
except  meat,  fish  or  vegetables  as  defined  in  section  ii66  of  this  act,  at  a  market  as 
defined  by  section  1166  of  this  act,  at  vendue  or  auction  without  having  first  obtained 
from  the  city  clerk  a  license  authorizing  such  person  or  persons,  corporation,  partner- 
ship or  association  to  carry  on  the  business  of  auctioneer,  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misde- 


304 


meanor,  and  upon  conviction  thereof  shall  pay  a  fine  of  not  less  than  twenty-five 
nor  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  for  each  offense.  But  nothing  in  this  section  shall 
apply  to  a  duly  appointed  marshal  of  the  City  of  New  York  who,  by  virtue  of  his 
ofl&ce  by  levy  under  legal  process,  sflls  goods,  wares  and  merchandise  or  real  or 
personal  property,  thus  levied  upon  by  him  under  such  process." 

Section  5.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  department  of  markets,  as  provided  by 
this  act,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  comptroller  of  the  management  of  markets,  and  of 
the  renting  of  stalls  or  stands  therein  and  of  the  granting  of  permits  and  the  collec- 
tion of  rents  therefor,  shall  cease  and  all  such  jurisdiction  shall  thereafter  devolve 
upon  the  market  board.  And,  likewise,  upon  the  organization  of  the  department 
of  markets  as  aforesaid,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  president  of  each  of  the  boroughs 
of  the  City  of  the  construction,  repairs,  cleaning  and  maintenance  of  markets  shall 
cease  and  all  such  jurisdiction  shall  thereafter  devolve  upon  the  market  board. 

Section  6.   This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 


INDEX 


Abattoirs,  in  Berlin,  88;  in  London,  86; 

in  Munich,  90;  in  New  York,  32. 
Advisory  Committee,  7. 
Ambulant  trade  in  Berlin,  109. 
American  Cities,  Public  Markets  in,  J.  F. 

Carter,  67. 

American  Hawaiian  Line,  terminals  and 

foodstuffs  handled,  39. 
American  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 

handled,  34. 
Amsterdam,  markets  of,  93. 
Anchor  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 

handled,  34,  37. 
Andrews,  Frank,  "Transportation  and  its 

Relation  to  Retail  Prices,"  119. 
Apples,  freight  charges  on,  120;  grading 

and  packing  of,  141 ;  handling  of,  135 ; 

sources  of  supply,  9. 
Aspegren,  John,  7. 

Atlantic  Fruit  Company,  terminals  and 

foodstuffs  handled,  35. 
Atlantic  Transport  Line,  terminals  and 

foodstuffs  handled,  34. 
Auction  sales  of  foodstuffs,  23,  191 ;  of 

California  fruits,  31,  214;  in  foreign 

cities,  86,  90,  92,  264;  recommended  for 

New  York,  25. 
Austria-American    Steamship  Company, 

terminals  and  foodstuffs  handled,  38. 
Austria-Hungary,  markets  of,  93. 

Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  terminals 
and  foodstuffs  handled,  30,  214,  260. 

Baltimore,  markets  of,  67. 

Bananas,  handling  of,  135;  sources  of 
supply,  9. 

Bangs,  Mrs.  Bleecker,  8. 

Bankers,  Commission  merchants  as,  231. 

Barge  Terminal  at  Greenpoint,  8. 

Beck,  Walter  J.,  testimony  of,  242. 

Behrenberg,  William  H.,  testimony  of, 
228. 


Belgium,  markets  of,  94. 

Benedict,  H.  H.,  testimony  of,  223. 

Bennett,  G.  L.,  "A  Study  of  Markets  and 
the  Marketing  of  Foodstuffs,"  147. 

Berlin,  cost  and  income  of  markets,  97; 
history  of  market  system  of,  95;  mar- 
kets of,  87;  retail  municipal  markets  of, 
21,  106. 

Bibliography,  265. 

Bill  creating  Department  of  Markets  for 
New  York,  Proposed,  295. 

Birmingham,  England,  markets  of,  87. 

Black,  Mrs.  Elmer,  7;  "Foreign  Mar- 
kets," 85. 

Blackberries,  grading  and  packing  of,  140. 
Board  of  Aldermen,  jurisdiction  in  mar- 
kets, 23. 

Board  of  Health,  condemnation  of  food- 
stuffs, 252,  255;  jurisdiction  in  mar- 
kets, 23. 

Board  of  Market  Commissioners,  pro- 
posed, 23. 

Booth  Steamship  Line,  terminals  and 
foodstuffs  handled,  36. 

Borough  Presidents,  jurisdiction  in  mar- 
kets, 23. 

Boston,  freight  service  to,  259;  trolley 
freight  service,  132. 

Boynton,  Edward  B.,  7. 

Brief  and  Plans  for  a  new  West  Wash- 
ington and  Gansevoort  Market,  57. 

Bronx,  Borough  of  The,  market  condi- 
tions in,  16,  258;  needs  of,  213,  223;  tes- 
timony on,  243,  244. 

Bronx  Market,  Proposed,  description  of, 
49;  estimated  business  in,  55;  estimated 
cost  and  income,  24,  52;  recommended 
by  Market  Commission,  25 ;  value  to 
suburban  places,  258. 

Brooks,  Franklin,  7. 

Brussels,  markets  of,  94. 

Buckle,  John,  7. 

Buda-Pesth,  markets  of,  93. 


306 


Buffalo,  markets  of,  67. 

Bureau  of  Weights  and  Measures,  juris- 
diction in  markets,  23. 

Bush  Terminal  Company,  38. 

Butter,  amount  brought  by  Pennsylvania 
Railroad,  30;  average  receipts  in  New 
York  market,  23s. 

Cabbage,  freight  charges  on,  120;  grading 
and  packing  of,  143. 

California  fruit,  handling  of,  135;  mar- 
ket, 15,  31,  214. 

Canning  and  preserving  establishments, 
157,  169. 

Canteloupes,  grading  and  packing  of,  142. 
Carloads  of  foodstuffs,  average  size,  53; 

number  received  in  busy  season,  15,  60, 

225. 

Carlot  markets  in  the  United  States,  121. 
Carriers,  relative  speed  and  costs,  155, 
196. 

Carter,  J.  F.,  "Public  Markets  in  Amer- 
ican Cities,"  67. 
Cash  vs.  Credit,  171. 

Cauliflower,  marketing  of,  145 ;  season  of, 

215;  sources  of  supply,  9. 
Celery,  freight  charges  on,  120;  grading 

and  packing  of,  144. 
Central  Vermont  Railway,  terminals  and 

foodstuffs  handled,  32. 
Central  wholesale  market,  advantages  of, 

229;  concentrating  power,  102. 
Chain  stores,  241. 

Chelsea  Association  of  Merchants  and 
Manufacturers,  8,  57. 

Cherries,  grading  and  packing  of,  140. 

Cincinnati,  markets  of,  69. 

Cleveland,  markets  of,  68. 

Clyde  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 
handled,  30. 

Clyde  West  Indian  Line,  terminals  and 
foodstuffs  handled,  37. 

Coffee  market,  36. 

Cold  Storage,  see  Refrigeration. 

Cologne,  Germany,  markets  of,  89,  262. 

Columbus,  Ohio,  markets  of,  70. 

Commission  merchants,  business  of,  10, 
194,  224 ;  commission,  233 ;  expenses  of, 
231;  legislation  concerning,  10;  mini- 
mum sale,  228. 

Compagnie  Generale  Transatlantique,  ter- 
minals and  foodstuffs  handled,  34. 


Compania  Transatlantica,  terminals  and 

foodstuffs  handled,  35. 
Competition,  effects  of,  150. 
Concentrating  power  of  central  market, 

52,  102. 

Congestion  at  terminals,  15,  61,  213,  219, 
221,  222,  234. 

Consumers,  21,  117,  160;  demands  of, 
239;  ignorance  of  conditions  of  produc- 
tion, 256. 

Consumption  of  foodstuffs  in  New  York, 

8,  30,  54,  55,  60,  62,  166,  225. 
Co-operation,  of  consumers,  163,  183;  of 
producers,  10,  139,  156,  201 ;  bibliogra- 
phy, 289. 

Cost  of  living,  13,  239;  waterways  and, 
124;  bibliography,  271. 

Costs,  of  production,  12,  131,  151,  238; 
of  retailing,  13,  21,  180;  of  transporta- 
tion, 12,  119,  126,  155. 

Crop  reports,  131,  151. 

Crops,  distribution  of,  215. 

Cucumbers,  grading  and  packing  of,  143. 

Cunard  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 
handled,  34. 

Cuneo  Steamship  Company,  terminals  and 
foodstuffs  handled,  36. 

Currants,  grading  and  packing  of,  141. 


Dayton,  Ohio,  markets  of,  70. 

Delancey  Street  Market,  19;  financial 
statement,  48. 

Delaware,  Lackawanna  and  Western  Rail- 
road, 15,  32. 

Delivery,  13,  176. 

Demurrage,  222. 

Denver,  markets  of,  70. 

Department  of  Markets  for  New  York 
City,  Proposed  Bill  creating,  295;  rec- 
ommended by  Market  Commission,  25. 

Departments  now  having  jurisdiction  in 
public  markets,  23. 

Des  Moines,  markets  of,  71. 

Deterioration  of  foodstuffs  in  transit,  154. 

Detroit,  markets  of,  71. 

Distribution  of  crops,  145,  149,  156,  215. 

Distribution  of  foodstuffs,  distance  car- 
ried, 9,  119,  252;  in  New  York,  14,  20, 
227;  facilitated  by  centralization  of  re- 
ceipts, 112;  by  trolley  freight,  129; 
bibliography,  288. 

Diversion  of  shipments,  122,  13a 


307 


Division  of  Markets  in  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  202. 

Docks  and  Ferries,  Department  of,  juris- 
diction in  markets,  23. 

Dowie,  Harry,  testimony  of,  231. 

Dubuque,  Iowa,  markets  of,  71. 

Duluth,  markets  of,  71. 

Dunkak,  Henry,  7;  testimony  of,  234. 

Dressier,  George,  testimony  of,  235. 

Droege,  "Freight  Terminals  and  Trains," 
quoted,  208. 

Eastman,  W.  C,  testimony  of,  220. 

Egg  Plants,  grading  and  packing  of,  144. 

Eggs,  collection  from  farmers,  256;  han- 
dling of,  235 ;  production  and  market- 
ing of,  168,  233;  amount  brought  by 
Pennsylvania  Railroad,  30;  refrigera- 
tion of,  232. 

Erie  Railroad,  15,  31;  fruit  auction,  214; 
terminals,  219. 

Existing  Steamship  and  Railroad  Ter- 
minals in  the  City  of  New  York,  W.  G. 
Rainsford,  29. 

Fabre  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 
handled,  38. 

"Farm"  on  West  Street,  use  of,  212. 

Farmers'  associations,  10,  145,  156;  ef- 
fect on  markets,  240. 

Farmers'  markets,  61,  240;  in  Wallabout 
Market,  20;  number  of  farm  wagons 
coming  to  New  York,  14;  plans  for  in 
proposed  new  West  Washington  Mar- 
ket, 58. 

Farming,  cost  of  labor,  238;  grading, 
packing  and  marketing  of  produce,  139; 
loss  of  time  in  marketing  goods,  134; 
increase  in  farm  values,  131 ;  on  Staten 
Island,  260 ;  present  methods  of  market- 
ing crops,  9. 

Farm  trains,  217. 

Fast  freight  service,  120. 

Finance,  Department  of,  jurisdiction  in 
markets,  23. 

Financial  Statement  of  Public  Markets  of 
New  York,  S.  A.  Goodacre,  42. 

Fire  Department,  jurisdiction  in  markets, 
23. 

Fish  Market,  33. 
Fleischl,  Emil,  7. 
Flour,  freight  charges  on,  119. 


Food  prices,  bibliography,  271. 
Food  supply,  responsibility  of  city  gov- 
ernment concerning,  115. 
Food  values,  165. 

Foodstuffs,  amount  received  in  New 
York,  8,  30,  54,  55,  60,  62,  166,  225. 

Foodstuffs  destroyed  by  the  Board  of 
Health,  252,  255. 

Foreign  Markets,  Mrs.  Elmer  Black,  85. 

Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  markets  of,  71. 

France,  markets  of,  91. 

Frankfort,  Germany,  markets  of,  90;  de- 
velopment of  waterways,  126. 

Freight  by  trolley,  129. 

Freight  cars,  percentage  of  time  in  use, 
208. 

Freight,  methods  of  handling,  59. 
Freight  rates,  29,  119,  124,  130. 
Friedland,     Jacob     M.,  "Provisioning 

Metropolitan  Populations  with  Fresh 

Foodstuffs,"  95. 
Fulton  Market,  17;  financial  statement, 

46. 

Funch,  Edye  and  Company,  terminals 
and  foodstuffs  handled,  37,  38. 

Gansevoort  Market,  14,  18;  financial 
statement,  48;  plans  for  new,  57. 

Gansevoort  Market  Business  Men's  As- 
sociation, 7,  24,  57. 

Germany,  markets  of,  87,  262. 

Goodacre,  Sidney  A.,  "Financial  State- 
ment of  the  Public  Markets  of  the  City 
of  New  York,"  42. 

Gooseberries,  grading  and  packing  of, 
141. 

Grading,  Packing  and  Marketing  of  Farm 
Produce,  L.  J.  Lippmann,  139. 

Grand  Rapids,  markets  of,  72. 

Grapefruit,  grading  and  packing  of,  142; 
sources  of  supply,  9. 

Green  Peas,  grading  and  packing  of,  143. 

Greenpoint,  possible  site  for  a  market,  25. 

Greenpoint  Taxpayers'  and  Citizens'  As- 
sociation, 8. 

Greenwich  Village  Public  Service  Com- 
mittee, 8,  57. 

Greensburg,  Pa.,  markets  of,  72. 

Hagerstown,  Md.,  markets  of,  72. 
Hamburg,  Germany,  markets  of,  89,  263. 
Hamburg-American  Line,  terminals  and 
foodstuffs  handled,  35. 


308 


Hamilton,  Ohio,  markets  of,  72. 

Hamilton,  Ont.,  markets  of,  72. 

Handling  of  foodstuffs,  251. 

Harlem  Market,  11,  14,  16. 

Hartford  and  New  York  Transportation 

Company,    terminals    and  foodstuffs 

handled,  36. 
Haslop,  Charles,  7;  testimony  of,  241. 
Havre,  markets  of,  92. 
Health,  Department  of,  jurisdiction  in 

markets,  23. 
Heath,  Mrs.  Julian,  7. 
Hellenic  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 

handled,  37. 
Holland,  markets  of,  93. 
Home,  Frank  A.,  testimony  of,  246. 
Huckleberries,  grading  and  packing  of, 

141. 

Ice,  33. 

Indianapolis,    markets    of,    73;  trolley 

freight  service,  132. 
Industrial    railroad    proposed    for  The 

Bronx,  49. 

Insular  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 
handled,  37. 

Jefferson    Market,    18;    financial  state- 
ment, 47. 
Jobbers,  11. 
Joliet,  markets  of,  73. 
June,  J.  G.,  testimony  of,  219. 

Kalamazoo,  markets  of,  73. 
Kansas  City,  Kan.,  markets  of,  73. 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  markets  of,  74. 
Kidderminster,  England,  markets  of,  87. 
King,  Clyde  L.,  "Trolley  Freight,"  129. 
Koelsch,  Carl  A.,  7. 

Lamport  and  Holt  Line,  terminals  and 
foodstuffs  handled,  36. 

Lancaster,  Pa.,  markets  of,  74. 

Lange,  Edgar,  "Provisioning  Metropoli- 
tan Populations  with  Fresh  Food- 
stuffs," 95. 

La  Veloce  Navigazione  Italia  a  Vapore, 
terminals  and  foodstuffs  handled,  35. 

Lawrence,  Richard  W.,  7. 

Legislation  requiring  registration  of  com- 
mission merchants,  10. 

Lehigh  Valley  Railroad,  32. 

Lethbridge,  Ont.,  markets  of,  74. 


Lettuce,  grading  and  packing  of,  144. 

Lewis,  Nelson  P.,  7. 

Lichtenfels,  William,  testimony  of,  243. 

Lincoln,  Neb.,  markets  of,  74. 

Lippmann,  L.  J.,  7,  8;  "The  Grading, 
Packing  and  Marketing  of  Farm  Pro- 
duce," 139. 

Little  Rock,  markets  of,  75. 

Live  poultry  market,  18;  site  proposed,  19. 

Live  stock,  freight  charges  on,  119. 

Liverpool,  England,  markets  of,  87. 

Loaders,  245. 

London,  market  system  of,  85,  96. 
Long  Island  City  market,  25. 
Long  Island  Railroad,  15,  32. 
Loss  through  bad  handling,  63. 
Louisville,  Ky.,  markets  of,  75. 
Lloyd  Brazillieno,  38. 
Lyons,  markets  of,  92. 

Madison,  Wis.,  markets  of,  75. 

Mallory  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 
handled,  30. 

Manchester,  England,  markets  of,  87. 

Mandarines,  grading  and  packing  of,  142. 

Market  Commission,  membership,  7 ;  ob- 
jects and  work,  7;  recommendations, 
24;  testimony  taken  by,  211. 

Market  hours,  30,  218,  226,  243,  259. 

Marketing  farm  produce,  9,  60,  62,  139, 
147;  farmers'  loss  of  time  in,  134;  pro- 
ducer to  consumer,  122;  refrigeration 
at  market  center,  135 ;  waste  of  present 
system,  252;  bibliography,  265. 

Market  organization,  203 ;  requirements 
for  buildings,  207. 

Markets,  Foreign,  Mrs.  Elmer  Black,  85; 
Berlin,  95;  Germany,  262;  London,  96; 
Paris,  95 ;  Vienna,  97. 

Markets,  primary  and  secondary  in  New 
York,  14;  summary  of  conditions,  8. 

Markets,  Public,  in  American  Cities,  J. 
F.  Carter,  67;  market  dock  in  Jackson- 
ville, Fla.,  128. 

Markets,  Public  in  New  York,  17;  divi- 
sion of  jurisdiction  in,  236;  financial 
statement,  42 ;  proposed  system,  20. 

Marquard,  Franz,  testimony  of,  262. 

McAneny,  Hon.  George,  7. 

Meat,  cost  of,  167;  freight  charges  on, 
119;  supply,  158;  bibliography,  277. 

Memphis,  markets  of,  75. 

Michael,  M.  C,  testimony  of,  246. 


309 


Middlemen,  219,  257;  classification  of,  10; 

services  of,  216,  240. 
Milk,  167. 

Milwaukee,  markets  of,  75. 

Miller,  Hon.  Cyrus  C,  7. 

Mitchel,  Hon.  John  Purroy,  7. 

Montgomery,  Ala.,  markets  of,  76. 

Mt.  Vernon,  25;  relation  to  Bronx  Mar- 
ket, so. 

Mullan,  Mrs.  George  V.,  7. 

Munich,  markets  of,  90,  262. 

Municipal  retail  markets,  21,  229,  238;  vs. 
private  stores  in  Berlin,  114. 

Municipal  sales  agents,  103. 

Municipal  Slaughterhouses  and  Meat 
Supply,  bibliography,  277. 

Munson  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 
handled,  35. 

Nashville,  markets  of,  76. 

Newark,  markets  of,  76. 

New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  markets  of,  77. 

New  Orleans,  markets  of,  76. 

New   Rochelle,   25 ;   relation  to  Bronx 

Market,  50. 
New  York  and   Cuba   Mail  Steamship 

Company,    terminals    and  foodstuffs 

handled,  35,  36. 
New    York    and    Demerara  Steamship 

Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs  handled, 

37- 

New  York  and  Porto  Rico  Steamship 
Company,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 
handled,  37. 

New  York  Central  Railroad,  15,  31 ;  ter- 
minals, 211. 

New  York  Dock  Company,  36. 

New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford 
Railroad,  15,  32;  terminals,  223. 

New  York,  Ontario  and  Western  Rail- 
road, 32. 

New  York,  sources  of  supply,  9,  121. 
Niagara  Falls,  markets  of,  77. 
Nixon,  Mrs.  Lewis,  7. 
Norfolk,  Va.,  markets  of,  77. 
Norristown,  Pa.,  markets  of,  77. 
Norton  and  Son,   terminals  and  food- 
stuffs handled,  38. 

Oklahoma  City,  markets  of,  77. 
Old  Dominion  Steamship  Company,  30, 
217. 


Omaha,  markets  of,  78. 
Onions,  sources  of  supply,  9. 
Open  markets  in  New  York,  31. 
Open  pier,  39. 

Oranges,  freight  charges  on,  120;  grad- 
ing and  packing  of,  142;  sources  of 
supply,  9. 

Osborn,  William  Church,  7. 

Otis,  George  S.,  7. 

Ottawa,  Ont.,  markets  of,  78. 

Oyster  market,  33. 

Package  goods,  13,  186. 

Packing  farm  produce,  139. 

Panama  Steamship  Company,  terminals 

and  foodstuffs  handled,  33. 
Parcel  post,  123. 

Paris,  market  system  of,  21,  91,  95. 

Patterson,  William  R.,  7. 

Peaches,    distribution    of,    216;  freight 

charges  on.  120;  grading  and  packing 

of,  141. 

Pears,  grading  and  packing  of,  141. 
Pennington,  Dr.  Mary  E.,  8,  62,  139,  251 ; 

"Refrigeration  at  the  Market  Center," 

135- 

Pennsylvania  Railroad,  15 ;  terminals,  30, 
220;  foodstuffs  handled,  30,  229. 

Perishable  goods,  effect  of  refrigeration, 
247;  freight  service  on,  121;  marketing 
of,  62,  130;  refrigeration  in  shipping, 
135- 

Philadelphia,  markets  of,  78;  Reading 
Terminal  Market,  182. 

Pickich,  Peter  A.,  testimony  of,  244. 

Pierce  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 
handled,  37. 

Pineapples,  grading  and  packing  of,  142. 

Pittsburgh,  markets  of,  79,  214. 

Plums,  grading  and  packing  of,  141. 

Police  Department,  jurisdiction  in  mar- 
kets, 23. 

Portsmouth,  Va.,  markets  of,  79. 

Potatoes,  freight  charges  on,  120;  grad- 
ing and  packing  of,  144;  sources  of 
supply,  9. 

Poultry,  grading  and  packing  of,  144; 
preparation  for  market,  255 ;  refrigera- 
tion of,  232. 

Pre-cooling  system,  257. 

Premiums,  163. 

Prices,  12,  229,  243;  determination  of, 
120,    129,    204,    234;    effect    of  han- 


310 


dling  facilities,  226;  increments,  224, 
228,  259;  increase  due  to  refrigeration, 
250;  influence  of  consumers'  ignorance, 
256;  in  Berlin,  113;  wholesale,  193; 
bibliography,  271. 

Primary  food  market  in  New  York,  14. 

Prince  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 
handled,  37,  38. 

Private  markets  vs.  municipal  in  Berlin, 
109. 

Produce  commission  business,  224. 
Produce  trains,  23. 

Producers,  associations,  201 ;  problems 
and  methods  of,  150. 

Production,  costs  of,  12,  131,  151,  238; 
effect  of  terminal  market  on,  64. 

Proposed  market  system  for  New  York, 
20;  Bronx  Market,  49;  West  Wash- 
ington and  Gansevoort  Markets,  57. 

Provisioning  Metropolitan  Populations 
with  Fresh  Foodstuffs,  Edgar  Lange, 
95- 

Public  Markets  in  American  Cities,  J.  F. 
Carter,  67. 

Public  Markets  in  New  York,  17;  finan- 
cial statement,  42;  departments  having 
jurisdiction  in,  23,  236. 

Quebec  Steamship   Company,  terminals 

and  foodstuffs  handled,  30. 
Quinces,  grading  and  packing  of,  141. 

Railroad  delivery,  224. 
Railroad  terminals  in  New  York,  29. 
Railroads,  trolley  lines  as  feeders  for,  133. 
Rainsford,  W.  G.,  "Existing  Steamship 

and  Railroad  Terminals  in-  the  City  of 

New  York,"  29. 
Raleigh,  N.  C,  markets  of,  79. 
Raspberries,  grading  and  packing  of,  140. 
Reading  Terminal  Market,  Philadelphia, 

182. 

Rebates,  226,  246. 

Recommendations  of  Market  Commis- 
sion, 24. 

Red  "D"  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 

handled,  36. 
Red  Star  Line,  terminals  and  foodstuffs 

handled,  34. 
Reeve,  Sidney  A.,  testimony  of,  260. 
Refrigeration,  131,  246;  at  the  market 

center,  135;  average  length  of  time 


goods  held,  249;  cost,  232;  extended 
use  of,  261 ;  financial  methods,  249 ;  ef- 
fect of  time  limits,  248;  effect  on 
prices,  247;  in  New  York,  232;  neces- 
sity of  in  market,  208;  bibliography, 
282. 
Rc-icing,  222. 

Reid,  Joseph  E.,  testimony  of,  224. 

Remington,  J.  D.,  testimony  of,  211. 

Retail  distribution,  11,  67,  237;  in  New 
York,  17;  needs  of  consumers,  160;  in 
Germany,  87,  263;  in  Paris,  21,  91;  in 
London,  85,  96;  municipal  markets  in 
Berlin,  21,  87,  99,  106. 

Retailer,  the,  170;  control  of  prices,  159; 
expenses,  225;  methods  of  selling,  174; 
purchasing  by,  171. 

Retailing,  costs  of,  13,  21;  180;  service  in- 
cluded in,  II,  202;  testimony  on,  237. 

Richmond,  Borough  of,  market  condi- 
tions in,  16,  260;  recommendations  con- 
cerning, 25. 

Rotterdam,  markets  of,  94. 

San  Antonio,  Texas,  markets  of,  80. 
Schenectady,  markets  of,  81. 
Seasons  of  production,  120,  252. 
Seattle,  markets  of,  81. 
Sherbrooke,  markets  of,  81. 
Shipments,  diversion  of,  122,  130. 
Shippers,  10,  233. 
Shipping  in  bulk,  187. 
Slaughterhouses  and  meat  supply,  bibli- 
ography, 277. 
Smith,  Joseph  E.,  7. 
Smith,  R.  A.  C,  7. 

Sources  of  supply  of  New  York,  9,  121. 
South  Bend,  Indiana,  markets  of,  82. 
Southern    Pacific    Steamship  Company, 

terminals  and  foodstuffs  handled,  33. 
Spiegelberg,  Mrs.  Flora,  7. 
Spokane,  markets  of,  82. 
Springfield,  Mass.,  markets  of,  82. 
Stadtlander,  George,  testimony  of,  239. 
Stamberger,  George,  testimony  of,  245. 
State    Food    Investigating  Commission, 

Committee    on    Markets,    Prices  and 

Costs,  8,  54,  166. 
Staten  Island,  see  Richmond,  Borough  of. 
Steamship  terminals  in  New  York,  29,  33. 
Steeneck,  John,  testimony  of,  237. 
St.  George,  site  for  market,  25. 
St.  John,  N.  B.,  markets  of,  80. 


311 


St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  markets  of,  80. 

St.  Louis,  markets  of,  80. 

St.  Paul,  markets  of,  80. 

Strawberries,  grading  and  packing  of, 
140;  season  of,  215. 

Streets,  traffic  capacity  of,  199. 

String  beans,  grading  and  packing  of,  143. 

Study  of  Markets  and  the  Marketing  of 
Foodstuffs,  A.,  by  G.  L.  Bennett,  147. 

Suburban  places,  difficulty  in  getting  sup- 
plies, 258. 

Summary  of  market  conditions  in  New 

York,  8. 
Syracuse,  markets  of,  82. 

Tangerines,  grading  and  packing  of,  142. 

Terminals,  steamship  and  railroad  in 
New  York,  29,  31,  211,  219. 

Terminal  wholesale  markets  in  New 
York,  21;  continuity  of  use,  222;  esti- 
mated business,  55. 

Testimony  taken  by  the  Market  Commis- 
sion, 211. 

Thompson,  S.  A.,  "Waterways  and  Cost 
of  Living,"  124. 

Tillsonburg,  Ont.,  markets  of,  83. 

Toledo,  markets  of,  83. 

Tomatoes,  grading  and  packing  of,  143; 
sources  of  supply,  121. 

Toms,  Elizabeth  L,  7. 

Toronto,  markets  of,  83. 

Traffic  capacity  of  streets,  199. 

Transportation  of  foodstuffs,  agencies 
coming  to  New  York,  14;  costs,  12, 
126,  155;  means,  152;  relation  to  retail 
prices,  119;  by  trolley,  129;  testimony 
on,  21 1 ;  bibliography,  286. 

Travers  City,  Mich.,  markets  of,  83. 

Trinidad  Shipping  and  Trading  Com- 
pany, terminals  and  foodstuffs  han- 
dled, 37. 

Trolley  Freight,  C.  L.  King,   129;  for 

Staten  Island,  261. 
Trucking,  15,  61,  195;  costs  of,  63,  229, 

234;  expenses  of,  246;  rates,  226,  245; 

testimony  on,  245. 
Trucks,  insulated  and  refrigerated,  254. 


United  Fruit  Company,  terminals  and 
foodstuffs  handled,  35. 

United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, Division  of  Markets,  202. 

Uranium  Steamship  Company,  terminals 
and  foodstuffs  handled,  37. 

Vegetable  market,  29 ;  pier,  29,  221 ;  on 

Old  Dominion  pier,  30. 
Vegetables,  sources  of  supply,  9,  121. 
Vehicles  used  in  food  transportation,  196. 
Vienna,  market  system  of,  93,  97. 

Wagon  delivery,  cost  of,  123. 

Wallabout  Basin,  terminals  on,  20. 

Wallabout  Market,  11,  14,  15,  19,  24;  ef- 
fort to  create  a  union  terminal,  235; 
financial  statement,  43. 

Washington  Market,  17;  financial  state- 
ment, 45 ;  testimony  on,  242. 

Washington,  Pa.,  markets  of,  83. 

Waste  of  marketing  system,  227,  252. 

Watermelons,  grading  and  packing  of, 
141. 

Watertown,  N.  Y.,  markets  of,  84. 

Waterways  and  Cost  of  Living,  S.  A. 
Thompson,  124. 

Westchester  Avenue  Market,  14. 

West  Washington  Market,  14,  18;  finan- 
cial statement,  44;  plans  for  new,  57. 

West  Washington  Market  Association,  8, 
57. 

Wheeling,  markets  of,  84. 

White  Star  Line,  terminals  and  food- 
stuffs handled,  34. 

Wholesale  market,  the,  190,  224;  impor- 
tance of,  182;  necessary  features,  115. 

Wholesalers,  10. 

Wichita,  Kan.,  markets  of,  84. 

Williamson,  Charles  C,  "Bibliography," 
265. 

Yonkers,  25,  218;  relation  of  to  Bronx 
Market,  50. 

Zanesville,  Ohio,  markets  of,  84. 
Zipf,  George  P.,  testimony  of,  258. 


ilH! 


